Boston Construction Workforce Data Falls Short of Resident and Women Hiring Goals

BOSTON — April 24, 2024 — Boston construction projects miss all three workforce goals for residents, workers of color, and women. The City Council Committee on Labor, Workforce and Economic Development, chaired by Councilor Benjamin J. Weber, reviewed six months of compliance data — October 2023 through March 2024 — covering 96 active projects. Boston Resident Jobs Policy manager Christopher Brown reported that private projects logged 2.6 million hours with 22 percent Boston residents, 34 percent people of color, and just seven percent women against ordinance targets of 51 percent, 40 percent, and 12 percent respectively. Public projects showed similar shortfalls: 21 percent Boston residents, 40 percent people of color, and six percent women across 790,000 hours. Chief of Worker Empowerment Trin Nguyen noted the Boston Resident Jobs Policy office was consolidated into the Labor Compliance division in April 2023 and that women's share on construction sites, while still below goal, has risen from three percent in the program's early years.