Key Takeaways

• AI, cloud, and data center growth across North and South Carolina have created a skilled trades bottleneck, with electricians, HVAC technicians, low-voltage specialists, and controls craft workers in critically short supply as the U.S. construction industry needs 349,000 new workers by 2026.
• Merit shop contractors win or lose hyperscale and tech infrastructure projects based on their ability to recruit, train, and retain safe, qualified crews, not just on bid numbers or pricing alone.
• ABC Carolinas provides concrete workforce development tools, including registered apprenticeship programs, safety training, and networking events, to help members compete in an increasingly tight job market.
• This article delivers a practical playbook: near-term staffing steps, apprenticeship strategies, and ways to use technology and community colleges to build sustainable pipelines before the 2027 demand peak hits.

Merit Shop Construction In The Carolinas: Why Skilled Trades Decide Who Wins Work

The 2025 through 2027 construction cycle in the Carolinas is unlike anything the region has seen. AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and data center campuses are generating billions in committed capital. Yet capital is not the constraint. Skilled labor is.

Merit shop construction is a contracting model where work awards, hiring, and advancement are based on performance, safety, and value rather than union affiliation. Where union construction is organized around collective bargaining and labor affiliation, merit shop construction differs by emphasizing open competition, flexible workforce management, and individual achievement in bidding and on the job. Organizations like the Associated Builders and Contractors champion merit shop principles to help keep open competition the standard. Over 80% of electrical contractors prefer the merit shop model, signaling that the industry overwhelmingly gravitates toward this approach.

For commercial construction companies, contractors, trade suppliers, and service providers in North and South Carolina, this is no longer a philosophical debate. In this cycle, merit shop contractors in Charlotte, the Triangle, and Upstate South Carolina are competing on their ability to field consistent, safety-focused crews just as much as on competitive pricing. ABC Carolinas serves as the regional association driving this effort through workforce development, advocacy, and ethical project delivery.

This article examines the merit shop philosophy shaping the region’s skilled trades market, then moves into the issues that determine who wins work: labor shortages, apprenticeship and training programs, safety and quality management, recruiting and retention, construction technology, and ABC Carolinas’ advocacy role. The thesis is straightforward:

• The AI and data center boom is fundamentally a skilled trades and workforce development story.
• The firms that can staff, train, and retain crews will capture the work. Those that cannot will watch margins erode or pass on opportunities entirely.

The Current Labor Landscape: Aging Workforce, AI Buildout, And Inflation Reduction Act Tailwinds

The numbers tell a clear story about the construction sector’s staffing challenge. The U.S. construction industry needs 349,000 new workers by 2026, and the projected labor shortage will increase to 456,000 workers in 2027. These are not abstract projections. As recently as December 2022, 292,000 construction jobs were open nationally.

Several structural pressures are converging in North and South Carolina:

• Aging workforce. The average U.S. construction worker is 42.5 years old, and that number is rising. Across the Carolinas, seasoned superintendents and journeypersons are approaching retirement, creating a vacuum in field leadership that takes years to fill.
• Federal spending tailwinds. The Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS Act, and infrastructure legislation are channeling sustained investment into commercial, industrial, and tech infrastructure in the Southeast. These programs accelerate demand for construction trades along the I-85 and I-77 corridors.
• Private tech investment. Hyperscale cloud and AI projects continue to absorb available labor. Duke Energy has signed agreements to connect 2 GW of new data center load in North Carolina alone, with projected growth of approximately 4 GW through 2030.
• Education pipeline gaps. Apprenticeship seats in the Carolinas fall short by 30 to 40 percent of what is needed, even as annual craft profession openings are projected at 15,000 to 20,000 per year through 2032.

The result: 61% of construction firms have raised base pay to attract skilled workers, yet openings persist.

Data Centers And Tech Infrastructure: Where Merit Shop Contractors Feel The Pinch

North Carolina and South Carolina have become magnets for data centers and mission-critical facilities, with operational and planned capacity forecast to nearly double from roughly 3 GW to almost 6 GW over the next decade. The North Carolina data center workforce impact is reshaping regional labor markets and creating sustained, multi-year construction programs.

Specific hot spots include:

• Charlotte and surrounding counties, where financial services and cloud infrastructure overlap.
• The Triangle and the US-70 corridor, anchored by tech employers and research institutions.
• The North Carolina data center corridor, spanning several counties with active hyperscale campuses.
• Upstate South Carolina, near Greenville and Spartanburg, where manufacturing and industrial demand compound tech infrastructure needs.

Typical data center projects run 12 to 18 months per data hall, with multi-building campuses stretching across three to seven years. These facilities demand 2N reliability or higher, meaning redundant power feeds, generators, UPS systems, and precision cooling. Every system requires highly skilled field teams.

Merit shop contractors can adjust workforce based on project needs, which is a significant advantage on phased campuses. But the underlying challenge is that 70% of construction companies have experienced project delays due to labor shortages. When specialty trades are understaffed, schedule risk cascades: delayed electrical switchgear pushes back mechanical work, which delays controls commissioning, which delays occupancy.

The Skilled Trades That Matter Most For Carolinas Merit Shop Contractors

For merit shop contractors targeting AI, data center, and tech infrastructure work, these trades carry the most acute staffing implications:

• Electricians and power distribution specialists. High-voltage, medium-voltage, switchgear, backup generators, and UPS systems. Licensing timelines (journeyperson and master levels) make rapid scaling difficult. Merit shop construction models face skilled-labor availability challenges here more than in almost any other trade.
• HVAC, refrigeration, and mechanical trades. Precision cooling through chillers, CRAH/CRAC units, and containment systems is essential. Mechanical trades with mission-critical experience command premium wages.
• Low-voltage, fiber, and controls technicians. Structured cabling, building management systems, and automation controls tie power and cooling together. Errors in these systems surface during commissioning and create costly rework.
• Supporting craft workers. Concrete crews, steel erectors, fire protection installers, and pipefitters. Even when specialty trades are staffed, bottlenecks in supporting trades on the critical path delay all downstream work.
• Project management and field leadership. Foremen, superintendents, and safety managers with mission-critical experience. Their absence amplifies risk, quality issues, and safety incidents across construction sites.

Merit shop companies often provide tailored on-the-job training that equips craft workers for these specialized roles faster than generic classroom instruction alone.

Merit Shop Philosophy As A Workforce Development Advantage

The merit shop philosophy is more than a contracting model. It is a workforce development system built on individual merit, open competition, and performance-based advancement.

Here is how it translates to competitive advantage for construction companies in the Carolinas:

• Performance-based compensation. The merit shop philosophy emphasizes performance-based compensation, and in merit shop systems, pay often fluctuates based on individual performance. This motivates craft workers to pursue skill development and safety excellence.
• Faster career advancement. Merit shop construction promotes a culture of individual achievement and skill recognition. Merit shops emphasize individual skills over seniority or affiliations, creating career paths that reward capability. This matters in a competitive environment where younger workers expect visible career growth.
• Flexible workforce management. Merit shop contractors can adjust workforce needs more flexibly than union shops, scaling crews up or down to match project phases more readily than in union construction, without rigid union rules or collective bargaining agreements.
• Tailored safety training. While union shops have pre-established safety training programs, merit shops offer tailored safety training methods that adapt to individual worker needs. Safety training in merit shops promotes individual talent recognition and enhances worker growth without union constraints. Merit shop safety training adapts to the specific hazards and systems on each project, which is critical on energized, mission-critical construction sites.
• Diverse workforces. Merit shops often have more diverse workforces than union shops, reflecting broader recruitment from community colleges, veteran programs, and nontraditional candidate pools.
• Competitive pricing. Competitive bidding in merit shop construction offers several advantages for owners and contractors, including reduced project costs and more competitive pricing while still supporting healthy wage growth for skilled labor.

Merit shop philosophy promotes fairness and open competition, fostering a culture of excellence and innovation. It promotes equitable competition in the construction industry by ensuring that labor affiliations do not determine who gets to build. Merit shop construction can reduce project stress by up to 30% through better crew alignment and management flexibility.

ABC Carolinas advocates for policies that keep project labor agreements optional, ensuring members can compete on merit rather than being excluded from work by mandated collective bargaining requirements. In an opportunity economy where the best teams should win, this matters.

Closing The Construction Experience Gap: Apprenticeships, Training Programs, And Community Colleges

The construction experience gap in the Carolinas is not just about headcount. It is about the shortage of seasoned foremen, superintendents, and craft leaders who can mentor new workers and maintain quality on complex builds.

It typically takes three to five years to develop a mid-level craft professional. That means contractors who need journeyperson-level crews for 2027 and 2028 project peaks need to invest now.

• Apprenticeship programs can increase the supply of new workers and provide structured, earn-while-you-learn pathways. ABC Carolinas’ registered apprenticeship and craft education programs combine evening classroom instruction with full-time hands-on experience at member companies.
• Community colleges in Charlotte, the Triangle, and Upstate South Carolina offer electrical, HVAC, welding, and construction education programs that can be aligned with employer needs through advisory boards and curriculum feedback.
• Modern learning tools such as gamified skilled trades training, mobile microlearning, and VR simulations keep younger workers engaged as they progress from apprentice to journeyperson, reducing first-year attrition and speeding time to competency.
• Construction education partnerships between contractors and local schools create early awareness of skilled trades career paths, building talent pipelines years before project peaks.

Practical Recruitment And Retention Tactics For Merit Shop Contractors

What should merit shop contractors in the Carolinas do now to prepare for the next wave of AI and data center work? The construction hiring challenge in the Carolinas demands proactive planning, not reactive scrambling.

• Build 12- to 24-month workforce plans tied to forecasted projects, especially multi-year hyperscale or mission-critical campuses that require steady crews rather than last-minute labor supply.
• Recruit from multiple channels. High school and community college outreach, veteran-focused hiring, bilingual materials for diverse candidates, and social media campaigns that clearly market career advancement opportunities and safety culture.
• Address retention head-on. While merit shop construction can lead to higher employee turnover than union models, contractors that offer competitive pay, predictable schedules where possible, and strong foreman communication see markedly better retention. Visible opportunities to move from craft worker to lead to foreman create the job security and career growth that skilled workers demand in a tight job market.
• Invest in onboarding. Structured first-week and first-month programs reduce early attrition and get new workers productive faster. Workforce development efforts that include mentoring from experienced craft workers accelerate skill development.
• Track metrics. Monitor time-to-hire, 90-day retention rates, and cost-per-hire to identify bottlenecks in your recruitment system.

Safety, Quality, And Margin: What Happens When Backlog Outruns Your Workforce

Consider a scenario familiar to many Carolinas contractors: a second data hall award arrives before the first is fully staffed. The temptation is to stretch existing crews, rush onboarding, and backfill with whoever is available.

The consequences are predictable. Overextended crews and rushed hiring lead to increased safety incidents, near misses, and OSHA citations. On complex, energized job sites, shortchanging training time can be catastrophic. The data center backlog in the Carolinas is real, and so are the risks of chasing it without adequate workforce development planning.

• Safety. Inexperienced crews are more prone to errors on high-consequence systems. Safety protocols must be maintained even under schedule pressure. Merit shop construction can reduce project stress by 30% when firms protect training time and crew stability.
• Quality. High turnover and underqualified craft workers drive rework, punch lists, and warranty claims, all of which erode cost savings and strain relationships with brand-name tech clients.
• Margin. Overtime, premium wages, inflated subcontractor rates, and hiring expensive out-of-area crews consume the profit that a strong backlog should deliver. Project delays and cost overruns become the norm.
• Reputation. In the merit shop environment, success stories and track records determine who wins the next project. A disciplined focus on safety, training, and merit-based advancement protects both worker rights and the bottom line.

The merit shop approach works because it aligns incentives: the most capable teams, measured by safety performance, productivity, and skill level, win work because they can deliver projects consistently.

Leveraging Technology To Support Merit Shop Workforce Development

Leveraging technology helps Carolinas merit shop contractors do more with limited skilled labor without replacing craft workers.

• BIM and prefabrication. Coordinating complex MEP systems digitally before they reach the field reduces errors and rework, bringing several advantages such as better field efficiency. Prefabricated assemblies allow top craft workers to focus on the most complex tasks while newer team members handle installation.
• Project management platforms. Labor management software for scheduling and labor forecasting helps superintendents anticipate shortages before they become emergencies on critical infrastructure projects.
• Mobile training and gamification. Just-in-time learning apps deliver safety and installation content directly to workers on site. Gamified skilled trades training attracts younger workers who expect digital tools on the job, improving engagement and credential stacking.
• Automated layout and robotics. On repetitive data center work, automated tools improve productivity on tasks like drilling and layout, freeing experienced crews for higher-skill-level work.

Technology is not a substitute for workforce development. It is a force multiplier that makes every trained worker more productive.

A 90-Day Action Plan For ABC Carolinas Merit Shop Members

Here is what you can do in the next 90 days to prepare for the construction industry’s demand surge:

• Conduct a workforce audit by trade and project phase. Identify where you have depth and where critical roles are dangerously thin.
• Map supervisors within five years of retirement. Prioritize experience transfer and identify emerging foremen and field leaders who need leadership development now.
• Enroll craft workers in ABC Carolinas apprenticeship and safety training programs. These programs give merit shop contractors a turnkey path to scale workforce development without building programs from scratch.
• Build or update your 12- to 24-month workforce plan. Align it with your project pipeline and bid calendar so you are not scrambling when awards arrive.
• Attend an ABC Carolinas workforce roundtable or networking event. Merit shop contractors can participate in ABC events to share best practices and identify partnership opportunities. Networking events help contractors engage with industry leaders, peer groups, and potential workforce partners.
• Monitor policy developments. Stay connected to ABC Carolinas government affairs updates on project labor agreements, wage setting, and labor supply issues that affect open competition in the Carolinas.

The contractors who invest in their people now will build the Carolinas’ next generation of critical infrastructure. ABC Carolinas is the go-to partner for workforce development, safety training, and merit shop advocacy across North and South Carolina. Engage with ABC Carolinas today to protect worker rights, strengthen your crews, and compete on merit.

FAQ: Merit Shop Construction And Skilled Trades In The Carolinas

Below are answers to common questions about this topic.

How quickly can a Carolinas contractor stand up an effective apprenticeship program?

By partnering with ABC Carolinas and existing community college or training center infrastructure, many merit shop contractors can begin enrolling apprentices within one or two enrollment cycles rather than building training programs from scratch. While full journeyperson competency takes several years of classroom instruction and hands-on experience, contractors typically start seeing measurable productivity and safety benefits within the first 6 to 12 months. ABC Carolinas handles curriculum alignment, registration, and compliance so employers can focus on on-the-job mentoring and skill development. This is an excellent example of how the merit shop system scales workforce capacity efficiently.

What does it cost to invest in workforce development compared with the risk of turning down work?

While tuition, instructor time, and paid training hours represent real costs, they are typically far lower than the financial impact of liquidated damages, rework, or passing on multi-year data center or industrial projects due to staffing constraints. Executives should frame workforce development as a capital investment with multi-year returns in productivity, safety, and reduced turnover, not as a discretionary expense. Tracking rework rates, incident rates, and retention before and after training investments helps quantify ROI and justify continued investment. The key benefits compound over time as your bench deepens and crew stability improves.

How can smaller merit shop contractors compete for data center work without overextending?

Smaller firms can partner with other ABC Carolinas members, focus on well-defined scopes such as electrical rooms or prefab assemblies, and rely on shared training resources rather than building full academies alone. Specializing in a trade or niche where you can build deep expertise and a stable crew, then demonstrating that reliability to larger primes and owners, is a proven path in the merit shop setting. ABC Carolinas peer groups and workforce programs are particularly valuable for smaller construction companies seeking a foothold in tech infrastructure markets and healthy competition.

Do project labor agreements shut merit shop contractors out of Carolinas tech work?

Some federally funded or locally negotiated projects may include project labor agreements, a labor model more commonly associated with union construction, which can create barriers for open-shop bidders. However, many private AI and data center projects in the Carolinas remain open to merit shop competition. Both North Carolina and South Carolina are Right-to-Work states, and NC statutes prohibit discrimination against bidders based on union membership status. ABC Carolinas actively advocates to preserve open competition and protect worker rights so that contractors are selected based on merit, safety record, and value. Monitoring policy developments through ABC Carolinas government affairs updates is essential for understanding how PLAs could affect future opportunities. Union contractors and merit shop contractors alike benefit when the playing field rewards performance.

What role can community colleges play in solving my company’s skilled trades shortage?

Community colleges across the Carolinas offer electrical, HVAC, welding, and construction management programs that can be aligned with employer needs through advisory boards and curriculum partnerships. Contractors who participate in career fairs, guest lectures, and internship or co-op programs help students see clear career paths into merit shop careers, directly addressing entry-level labor shortages. Close collaboration with local colleges stabilizes entry-level talent pipelines, reduces onboarding time for new workers, and helps meet demand across the construction workforce. This partnership model is how merit shops contribute to long-term regional workforce capacity.