Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

College of Technology

First Advisor

David Batie

Second Advisor

Lee Ellingson

Third Advisor

Lyman Hannah

Abstract

Craft worker retention is a constant concern of construction firms who selfperform portions of projects. These companies must maintain an understanding oftheir work force. A methodology is presented in this study for studying information in readily available employee databases to gain such an understanding. Using a sample of 10 of Missouri's 17 largest contractors, that employ 5,277 craft workers; this study examined the employee databases to identify differences in mean length of employment based on hire age, craft, union affiliation, and company size. The analysis of variance statistical technique was utilized to test four null hypotheses. Based on the test results, the researcher was unable to reject the null hypothesis that there were no statistically significant differences between the mean length of employment for craft workers based on five hire age categories (16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55 & up) or union affiliation (union versus non union). However, results indicated that operators had a statistically significant (.05 alpha) longer length of employment than carpenters, laborers, and iron workers. Also, results indicated that craft workers at medium-sized companies had a statistically significant longer length of employment than craft workers at small and large construction companies. The researcher recommended future studies to address why craft workers at medium-sized construction firms and operators in general would have a greater mean length of employment.

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