March 3, 2025
According to recent published data, the long-term decline in skilled workers in construction means an estimated shortage of more than 250,000 workers by 2028. Worse still, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) estimates at least 50,000 extra workers are required to meet current demands. However, the total construction output is still predicted to grow by 3.5% in 2025 and 4.6% in 2026, making 2027 a crucial pinch point.
With more people leaving the industry than joining, changes to incentivise new careers and to up-skill existing workforces, must be a key focus for the industry if it is to succeed in meeting growth targets.
Whilst many construction workers are nearing retirement, younger generations are showing less interest in starting a career in the industry. The decline in vocational training and apprenticeships has worsened the problem, leaving employers with gaps in key roles. Government figures show around 15,000 people start construction apprenticeships annually, but almost half don’t finish the course they started. This shows the dropout rate has risen sharply, up by almost one third from 2014/15. Other industries, such as computer science have seen a huge increase in career uptakes, with an increase of 50% from 2011. Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics programmes (STEM) have also seen a steady year on year growth, which according to government figures, includes a 400% increase in acceptance rates for students starting Artificial Intelligence courses at university.
So where does that leave Construction? Despite the year-on-year increase in the use of modern methods of construction, new carbon reduction methodologies, and sustainable materials, the slow uptake of innovative technologies continues to be highlighted across construction. To attract new talent, and increase the uptake of apprenticeships, construction needs a technological boost.
With additional impacts such as new legislation delays, and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) taking far longer than planned to approve applications, risking redundancies, the industry currently carries more risk than it does opportunities for newcomers.
We believe the responsibility is two-fold, and sits with construction firms, to increase training and up-skilling of their existing workforces, and to invest in smarter more efficient ways of working, and not just those that improve the bottom line. Secondly, there is a huge demand for the use of AI and new technologies to help clear the back log from the building safety regulator.
But this must be incentivised with the reallocation of government funding, with a drive for innovation rather than purely development growth. Adopt new technologies, solve current delays, and in turn increase and encourage newcomers.