The labor shortage isn't coming. It's here. And it's not getting better.
According to recent industry surveys, 45% of restoration companies report difficulties recruiting skilled labor—and for many business owners, it's become their single biggest challenge. Not insurance claim disputes. Not equipment costs. Not rising material prices. Finding and keeping good techs.
If you're struggling to fill positions, you're not alone. But the companies that are winning the talent war aren't doing it by accident. They've figured out what actually works—and what doesn't.
Here's the reality: you're not just competing with other restoration companies. You're competing with HVAC, plumbing, electrical, construction—every trade that needs skilled hands and pays decent money.
The construction industry as a whole needed to attract 454,000 additional workers in 2025 beyond normal hiring rates. And with 22% of all tradespeople now over age 55, the pipeline isn't filling up anytime soon.
What used to be a manageable recruiting challenge is now a full-blown crisis.
It's not just hard to find techs. It's hard to keep them. Here's what the data shows about why technicians leave:
Most restoration companies throw new hires into the field with minimal training. They shadow a senior tech for a week, maybe two, then they're on their own. They don't feel confident. They don't understand the "why" behind the protocols. And when something goes wrong on a job, they panic.
Result? They quit within 90 days.
Minimum wages are rising. Base compensation for techs is up 9% year-over-year in many markets. When a competitor offers $2 more per hour, your undertrained tech walks. Why? Because they weren't invested in your company—they were just collecting a paycheck.
Labor shortages mean your existing team is drowning. They're covering for unfilled positions, working longer hours, and dealing with more stress. According to industry reports, employee burnout is chronic across restoration—and it's a vicious cycle. Burned-out employees quit, which burns out the ones who stay, who then quit, and so on.
Most techs don't see a future. They're on job sites day after day with no roadmap for advancing to lead tech, project manager, or estimator. Without a clear path forward, they leave to find one elsewhere.
The restoration businesses that aren't drowning in the labor shortage have figured out a few critical things:
The companies keeping techs aren't relying on tribal knowledge and hoping new hires absorb enough to survive. They're building structured onboarding programs that get techs confident and competent fast.
Industry data shows: Companies that invest 14% of their annual budget in training see better retention. Why? Because techs who understand what they're doing—and why—stick around.
This is where platforms like Ready come in. Instead of spending weeks of a senior tech's time training one person at a time, you can onboard multiple techs simultaneously with:
Result: Techs feel confident faster, senior staff aren't babysitting, and you're not losing people because they're overwhelmed.
Yes, wages matter. But the companies winning talent wars aren't always the highest payers. They're the ones communicating value beyond the hourly rate:
The data is clear: companies that create job opportunities with more accountability and flexibility retain better. Techs want to be treated like professionals, not cogs in a machine.
Smart companies:
Culture isn't about ping-pong tables. It's about respect, communication, and making people feel like they're building something—not just showing up for a check.
Here's a stat that matters: Over 70% of restoration leaders either embrace AI's productivity gains or are actively interested in its value.
Why? Because technology solves the problems that make good techs quit:
The companies using training platforms, job management software, and AI tools are doing more with fewer people—and their teams are less stressed.
The restoration industry is at an inflection point. The companies that figure out how to attract, train, and retain skilled labor will dominate the next decade. The ones that don't will be acquired or shut down.
You can't out-pay everyone. But you can out-train them.
When a tech walks into your company and within two weeks feels more confident, competent, and valued than they did in six months at their last job—they're not leaving for an extra $1.50/hour.
The old model: Throw new hires at jobs, hope they learn fast, lose them within 90 days, repeat.
The new model: Structured onboarding, continuous training, clear growth paths, and technology that makes their job easier.
That's exactly what Ready was built for.
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