Impact of COVID-19 on labor’s motivational factors and construction productivity

Abstract

Many studies were conducted to identify the factors that affect productivity in the construction industry. This study aims to identify the motivational and demotivational factors that affect construction labor productivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic occurrence. The required data was collected by interviewing construction workers on site. A factor analysis was conducted to allocate deep perception amongst the surveyed factors and to identify fewer essential factors. These essential factors are ranked by using relative importance index (RII). The study revealed that the most important motivational factor during the pandemic period is ranked as job security, followed by monetary benefits, and work satisfaction. Rework, a lack of recognition for efforts, and a lack of communication were identified as major demotivators. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the level of agreement of study participant categories. The analysis revealed that the carpenters’ perspective regarding the motivators and demotivators' rank is different than other craftsman types, and there is a strong correlation between civil work craftsmen (masons and carpenters) and between electro-mechanical workers (electricians and welders). This study's motivational ranking is different than what recorded in normal conditions, and it recommends construction managers modify construction workers' motivational schemes.

Keywords:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• labor productivity
• motivation
• construction industry

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Research limitation

Workers interview were held in January 2021, three months after starting resuming work in construction projects, so the workers' interview was not easy due to circumstances of the viral disease of Covid 19 and difficult to access a big number of projects in that time. The study resulted was based on the collected data in that period.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.