Top 10 Reasons why it is so difficult to find good construction schedulers

1. The construction industry is notoriously frugal when it comes to investing in software and training.
2. Construction scheduling positions are notoriously underpaid, unless they are at the top of the heap, which is about $140K/ann. The average salary for a scheduler in NYC is about $100,000, and as low as $45,000 elsewhere.
3. Construction scheduling positions are not in great supply.
4. Contractors don’t place enough importance on their schedules and scheduling departments because…
5. Owners don’t either.
6. Few schedulers have dual expertise in IT and construction means-and-methods.
7. Few contractors understand the necessity of dual expertise.
8. Many schedulers with field experience don’t have a grasp on all the trades that comprise a complex project - from concrete foundation to systems integration.
9. Complex schedules require a higher order of IT competence, which is rarely found in the construction industry. Therefore, such work is outsourced, often to a database expert in a third-world country. Nothing wrong with going global, but that doesn’t encourage growth locally, especially with the wage rates of such countries.
10. Finally, and this is a question: how many of you ever started out as, or aspired to be, a construction scheduler?