August 20/27, 2018: Volume 34, Issue 5
By Ken Ryan
Orlando—The role of the installer has never been more vital to the health of the flooring industry. That statement underscored the main theme of the 25th International Certified Flooring Installers (CFI) convention here earlier this month.
During the meeting, which drew record attendance, CFI released preliminary findings from a study on the current and future state of the floor covering industry labor force (read: installers). The Floor Covering Leadership Council, of which CFI is a member, hired The Blackstone Group, a Chicago-based research firm, to provide an in-depth look at the installation issue. Blackstone interviewed 334 executives—49% of whom identified themselves as contractors and 43% retailers—representing members of the CFI, World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), Tile Council of North America, FCICA and non-flooring people. All those polled had used installation at some point in 2017.
The results confirmed what many in the industry had feared—that the shortage of installers as well as lack of qualified mechanics is seen as a “serious” problem by more than two-thirds of respondents.
While one installer said he was more interested in what the next steps are, Scott Humphrey, CEO of the WFCA, said this validation is important. “What if we conducted this study and the findings told us something we didn’t know?” Humphrey posed. “We are just at the beginning of this crisis. The problem doesn’t get better from here; the problem gets worse. During the Great Recession, we didn’t just lose that generation of installers, we lost the generation that was coming up as well.”
Among the findings released at the CFI convention: 97% of respondents acknowledged there is a shortage of installers in the flooring industry; 58% called it a serious shortage. Flooring businesses are increasingly relying more on subcontractors; 74% of respondents used employee installers and 91% had subs while two-thirds use both. At the same time, only 9% of contractors and retailers said they use only employee installers for their jobs.
Perhaps the most striking was the financial impact the installation crisis has had on business. Because the shortage is so dire, many projects never take place, research shows. What’s more, there were increased logistics costs, reduced margins and an increase in claims paid due to a lack of trained labor.
To put this in context, the businesses responding to the survey generated $2.5 billion in business in 2017. However, the labor shortage cost them an estimated $97 million in missed revenue. “That is a huge, huge financial impact on our industry,” said Phil Zolan, executive director, fcB2B of the WFCA. “Our task is to own this problem and to drive home the solutions.”
According to Robert Varden, vice president of the CFI Division, no flooring organization is better positioned to tackle this problem and provide solutions than CFI. “In 25 years, CFI has become the most recognized certification and training program worldwide,” he stated. “Since 1993, CFI has certified an estimated 60,000 installers.”
For years, CFI stood for certifying the next generation of installers. And while certification is still important to its mission, the needs of the industry have forced CFI to pivot to recruiting and partnering with like-minded entities including Informa and the Fuse Commercial Flooring Alliance.
The installation shortage is so acute that most flooring dealers cannot afford to dispatch an installer for weeks of training because they are so backed up. In light of this, CFI and its trainers will be taking its show on the road. “We are blessed that we have relationships everywhere with manufacturers, distributors and dealers, so there is usually somewhere we can go,” Varden said. “So far, word of the program has created a buzz.”
Supporting the cause
Many of the 200-plus attendees who participated in the event were here to contribute to finding solutions to the issues facing installers and the industry at large. This included new board member Michael Welch, president of E.J. Welch Co., a distributor, and Geoff Gordon, executive director, Fuse Alliance. “We jumped into the fray with CFI because of the labor issue,” Gordon said. “We see some of the same challenges in terms of labor and are looking to CFI and Robert for help.”
Welch said CFI’s mission as a training and certification body has shifted. “We have to find ways to make it more affordable for installers to train. Recruiting is one component to the crisis; making it affordable is another. I think CFI is in a good place now.”
WFCA’s Humphrey rallied CFI installers with this pitch: “Your future has never looked brighter. There has never been a time when the industry has needed you more. But you need to do it with one voice—you need to say to the industry, ‘You want us? Well, you are going to have to treat us right and pay us.’ Solving the installation crisis cannot possibility be done right without CFI.”