Tight Wood Products Workforce Continues Despite Low Lumber Prices
Even as sawmill production slows and wood manufacturing industry jobs decline in northwest Montana, managers are still struggling to fill positions at local mills
By Maggie Dresser
During the pandemic when low mortgage rates dropped to 3% and prompted a strong demand for building, the framing lumber composite price per 1,000 board feet rose from $400 in 2019 to $1,400 in 2021 while nationwide housing starts grew to 1.6 million.
But once inflation triggered the Federal Reserve to start raising interest rates, which has kept mortgage rates hovering around 7% since 2022, building demand has slowed to only 1.3 million housing starts in 2024. Meanwhile, the composite price dropped to $388 per 1,000 board feet last year.
“The market situation for lumber and things like plywood and hardboard – prices are low for those things right now,” said Todd Morgan, the director of Forest Industry Research at the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER). “They are lower than they were before Covid. That’s not a great situation with wood products and manufacturers – their products aren’t worth much.”
The drop in demand has also led to a drop in production, but despite that decreased output, the wood products industry continues to see a tight workforce as manufacturing jobs become less attractive to applicants even as the broader labor market loosens.
According to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry 2025 Labor Day Report, nearly every industry in the state added jobs last year. Net in-migration has helped fill those jobs, with the northwest Montana region reporting a 1.2% increase in labor participation.
Last year, manufacturing was one of the few statewide industries to see a decline in employment when Pyramid Mountain Lumber and Roseburg Forest Products closed, which resulted in the loss of 250 jobs.
Pyramid’s closure was tied to the lack of available housing for mill workers in the isolated recreation town of Seeley Lake, which made the mill difficult to operate in an already challenging environment amid low lumber prices.
Statewide, Morgan says there are roughly 8,000 forest industry workers, which includes logging, forestry and mills, while wood product manufacturing accounts for 3,200 employees.
But even as production decreases and less labor is required, Morgan says mills have been struggling to fill positions since before the pandemic.
“Before Covid, people were talking a little bit about labor being a challenge and during Covid that became more pronounced,” Morgan said. “A lot of different sectors were competing for the same pool of potential workers and some people in the industry have said it’s hard to get people willing to work these manufacturing jobs.”
At F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. in Columbia Falls, Vice President and General Manager Paul McKenzie employs 115 direct employees in addition to contractors and said certain positions at the sawmill are always difficult to fill.
“Highly skilled positions are still challenging to fill – techs, millrights – that kind of thing,” McKenzie said. “Part of it is the cost of living and relocating to the valley. We focus a lot on training within and finding folks with the desire and potential to learn – that’s been a strategy we’ve been employing.”
McKenzie said the job market has loosened recently and there’s been more applicants than during the peak pandemic workforce shortage. He also said employee retention has improved. But McKenzie has noticed manufacturing jobs are less appealing to younger generations who are not interested in shift work.
Morgan, too, said younger members of the workforce are not seeking hard physical labor compared to their generational predecessors.
“A lot of people want to have more flexibility in their work life,” Morgan said. “A lot of manufacturing and logging jobs are long hours that start early and go until dark. They don’t lend themselves to flexibility.”
As of Sept. 24, Weyerhaeuser in Columbia Falls had 17 open positions ranging from entry-level production associates to industrial electricians. The company is currently offering a $1,500 hiring bonus for a variety of positions including millrights, which have a base wage of $29.75, according to CareerOneStop.
Even as production slows, the tight workforce makes employers reluctant to lay off workers during an economic downturn.
“We’ve worked hard to keep our people employed,” McKenzie said. “If we let them go, the chance of getting them back is so low. That’s part of the challenge because of the labor shortage – we are hesitant to do curtailments.”
Morgan said this strategy is widespread across the industry and instead of cutting jobs, employers will shorten shifts, cut back hours or shuffle staff around.
Over the past two years, McKenzie said the company has been able to maintain a mostly full staff while hitting production goals. There are always a few job openings, he said, but employment numbers have stayed relatively steady.
While lumber demand remains low right now, future production will hinge on a variety of factors, including a potential drop in mortgage rates that will likely trigger more building. But in order for supply to meet that prospective demand, Morgan said there needs to be more opportunities to harvest timber on federal lands. Policy changes like establishing wood as a renewable energy source could help loosen the supply, he said.
“There’s no doubt there’s a need for forest management in the U.S.,” Morgan said. “We have overstocked forests, there’s mortality because of things like drought and those things all contribute to wildfires. It’s one thing that could help manage the fuels and help reduce the threat. At the same time, any material that gets cut can be used in a way we need. The potential is there, but right now, we’re stuck between old policy rocks and a current market hard place.”