4 ms·

Construction is actually pretty low margin, builders survive with credit and volume. The secret sauce for construction is just finding the cheapest labor you c

Construction is actually pretty low margin, builders survive with credit and volume. The secret sauce for construction is just finding the cheapest labor you can. There’s not a lot of efficiencies to be had.

ProllyInfamous 3y ago
>secret sauce for construction is just finding the cheapest labor you can And then "sorting out" all the mistakes you can expect from such kwality.
- jimmychoozyx 3y ago
  Someone just told me about a construction business practice: - Hire 5 guys, on the books. - Those guys each bring 5 guys, off the books. (illegal immigrants) - Those 5 guys on the books get paid for all 25 guys and distribute it within their team. It's a bit sad to hear about this sort of thing happening, but it seems all too common in business. That same person told me about another story-- regarding quality: - At another job site, the company had a new project manager. The new PM approved moving forward into a new phase of the project without plans (plans didn't arrive by the time contractor arrived). The contractor of that project build something incorrectly (as you'd expect) due to lack of coordination with other contracting teams (i.e. lack of plans). The result: $1-2 mil worth of work needing to get fixed.
  - flatline 3y ago
    I know someone who landed six months in federal prison for doing just that, and a multi-million dollar civil suit for underpaying those workers. The penalties for failure here are pretty steep.
  - LegitShady 3y ago
    This is not a "construction industry practice" it's just an unethical business practice usually to underpay illegal immigrants. It's a crime and you will go to prison when you piss off the wrong guy you're underpaying.
    - ProllyInfamous 3y ago
      >you will go to prison when you piss off the wrong guy you're underpaying. Ahhh.... freshly-poured concrete conceals all.
  - ProllyInfamous 3y ago
    Most egregious in these practices is that the initial (legal) hires are typically the only ones speaking English, so they have no clue how much is being "skimmed" from their own labor... and their immigration status ensures compliance with status quo. No matter a $250,000 nor $2,500,000 will prevent this in my Southern experience. I know in the South Dakota of my childhood memories, the "illegals" were undocumented Russians (not brown).

ProllyInfamous 3y ago

>secret sauce for construction is just finding the cheapest labor you can And then "sorting out" all the mistakes you can expect from such kwality.

jimmychoozyx 3y ago
Someone just told me about a construction business practice: - Hire 5 guys, on the books. - Those guys each bring 5 guys, off the books. (illegal immigrants) - Those 5 guys on the books get paid for all 25 guys and distribute it within their team. It's a bit sad to hear about this sort of thing happening, but it seems all too common in business. That same person told me about another story-- regarding quality: - At another job site, the company had a new project manager. The new PM approved moving forward into a new phase of the project without plans (plans didn't arrive by the time contractor arrived). The contractor of that project build something incorrectly (as you'd expect) due to lack of coordination with other contracting teams (i.e. lack of plans). The result: $1-2 mil worth of work needing to get fixed.
- flatline 3y ago
  I know someone who landed six months in federal prison for doing just that, and a multi-million dollar civil suit for underpaying those workers. The penalties for failure here are pretty steep.
- LegitShady 3y ago
  This is not a "construction industry practice" it's just an unethical business practice usually to underpay illegal immigrants. It's a crime and you will go to prison when you piss off the wrong guy you're underpaying.
  - ProllyInfamous 3y ago
    >you will go to prison when you piss off the wrong guy you're underpaying. Ahhh.... freshly-poured concrete conceals all.
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago
  Most egregious in these practices is that the initial (legal) hires are typically the only ones speaking English, so they have no clue how much is being "skimmed" from their own labor... and their immigration status ensures compliance with status quo. No matter a $250,000 nor $2,500,000 will prevent this in my Southern experience. I know in the South Dakota of my childhood memories, the "illegals" were undocumented Russians (not brown).