Construction workers are lazy.

[DDD]

Can I kill one of them to make them work harder or is this a bug or a trend. I have 5 shops on my island with over 20 pending projects and 3 of my shops have no active projects listed. I've had this issue for a while it's the first time I'm asking about it. Its probably cheaper to quick build at this point then waste time waiting for them.

[JoshnPosh]

"Can I kill one of them to make it hard"
Wont work in the real world wont wake in a fake one

[DDD]

Originally posted by JoshnPosh³:

"Can I kill one of them to make it hard"
Wont work in the real world wont wake in a fake one

It did back in the old days. Now people have rights and freedoms. Such dark times we live in.

[BaconHer0]

There are a number of factors that can cause builders to be lazy:

If their needs are not satisfied (Health, Entertainment, Religion, Rest etc...), they will tend to mill about aimlessly and not work.

It also helps to juggle building priorities - have a maximum of 2 projects only at high priority and they will be constructed. If you have 20 buildings on high priority, your workers will just ignore them.

Most importantly, if you have buildings that cannot be populated, builders will treat that building as lower priority and sometimes ignore it. (ie. If you start building a factory but have no high school workers, your builders will treat it as low priority. If you build a new tenament when you have 30 unoccupied family spaces, your workers will treat that condo as low priority)

I think builders also go around the island to do maintenance on residential buildings, that means they'll repair lost quality levels. This can cause them to be too busy to build your other projects.
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I have at times executed my dock workers for not showing up out of frustration. If you do decide to kill them all, go ahead - no other dictator worth his salt will criticise you for that.

[Commodus]

Execute them all!

[DDD]

Originally posted by BACONCOP:

There are a number of factors that can cause builders to be lazy:

If their needs are not satisfied (Health, Entertainment, Religion, Rest etc...), they will tend to mill about aimlessly and not work.

It also helps to juggle building priorities - have a maximum of 2 projects only at high priority and they will be constructed. If you have 20 buildings on high priority, your workers will just ignore them.

Most importantly, if you have buildings that cannot be populated, builders will treat that building as lower priority and sometimes ignore it. (ie. If you start building a factory but have no high school workers, your builders will treat it as low priority. If you build a new tenament when you have 30 unoccupied family spaces, your workers will treat that condo as low priority)

I think builders also go around the island to do maintenance on residential buildings, that means they'll repair lost quality levels. This can cause them to be too busy to build your other projects.
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I have at times executed my dock workers for not showing up out of frustration. If you do decide to kill them all, go ahead - no other dictator worth his salt will criticise you for that.

Your 3rd point is probably what my issue is. Despite my booming economy I do have a low population. Which is slowly getting supplemented by immigration. I had skilled workers set for a while due to high unemployment but now I have over 50 positions open on top of those construction projects because my immigration hasn't caught up yet. Guess I should try balancing my immigration/jobs better.

[BaconHer0]

Money tends to come very easily in Tropico 4 - I find more value in demolishing extra construction offices to fill my other job slots and have at least 8 bankers working in urban development mode. When your economy starts raking in more cash than you know what to do with, turn on "building permits" then quick build everything!

With Russian developmental aid and max urban development, modern apartments cost $500 basic.

[admiral8q]

Pay your construction workers a higher wage than the average wage. They will gain skill over time and not switch jobs. I do the same for teamsters and dock workers. Especially dock workers.

I find they spend more time working instead of being lazy that way.

[Commodus]

Pay them more! than one dollar? madness!

[admiral8q]

Originally posted by Lord Solar:

Pay them more! than one dollar? madness!

Yes. Two dollars is twice as good as one. That should make them twice as happy!

[HJ]

It might be transport issues, If they have to spend several days walking there and back theyre never gonna work

[[PHNX]Kordarus]

Originally posted by admiral8q:

Pay your construction workers a higher wage than the average wage...

This is just silly!!! Don't listen to him!!! They have to work for 2$ or they go work in the labor camp!!!

[Commodus]

The labour camp best be in T5

[Jimmy]

I used to think the same but now i place down a second one at the very start of every game and now construction just flies by

[Malaficus Shaikan]

A few rules i learned when playing tropico 4:
1: dont speed up time. it will only make you impaitance and buy/build stuff you wont need.
2: follow your workers around. learn how there ai works helps alot.(i learn for example where the doors are on buildings)
3: use the damm almanac, especialy econemy tab.
4: Build a few structeurs(max 5) at the time and save the money for emergencies.
5: get proffesor background and scholery trait. this will make all your workers gain job experiance at record speed.
6:keep your free job positions near your unemployment rate. you want to ensure you dont build to much.
7:Bunkhouses are good early game as even at 1 dollar rent they pay for there own upkeep.
8: make one constructer for every 10 buildings, and 1 teamster for every two production structers.
9:build garage's between important area's(houses, work locations, docks etc)
10: try to keep your treasury above 10k at all times. as it is needed to pay for upkeep, salary. etc.

[admiral8q]

Great advice Malaficus!
For #7, I get tenements and then apartments cheap as soon as possible. But if it's a tough scenario, then bunkhouses are a better choice.
#5, depends on a person's own strategy.
Everything else, spot on!