Construction Jobs Plan aims to tackle construction skills crisis

 

Published last week (19 October) as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, the plan provides a national framework for increasing the construction workforce, improving skills and encouraging greater investment in training.

 

The scale of the challenge is considerable. The Government says around 45% of construction vacancies are difficult to fill because of skills shortages, while the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) forecasts that the sector could need around 240,000 additional workers by 2030. Demand could be even higher if the Government’s ambitions for housebuilding, retrofit and infrastructure are fully realised.

 

For building engineers and other professionals working across the built environment, the plan is significant because it recognises that meeting future demand will require more than simply recruiting additional people. It also focuses on developing existing workers, improving workforce planning and preparing the sector for changes in how buildings are designed and constructed.

£625m skills package

 

At the heart of the plan is the Government’s £625 million Construction Skills Package, which is intended to support the creation of up to 60,000 additional construction workers. The package includes funding for 40,000 industry placements a year for eligible Level 2 and Level 3 construction learners aged 16 and over, up to 10,000 construction-focused Foundation Apprenticeships, and 35,000 additional construction-focused Skills Bootcamp places.

 

The Government is also backing a new Construction Apprenticeship Network, designed to make it easier for young people to find apprenticeship opportunities and for smaller employers to recruit apprentices. SMEs taking on 16- to 24-year-old apprentices will also be eligible for an incentive of up to £2,000. These measures support an industry ambition to create 100,000 job opportunities a year by the end of the current Parliament.

The plan also acknowledges that the construction workforce needs to adapt as the industry becomes more digital and industrialised. Industry commitments include preparing workers for AI and industrialised construction, alongside developing better strategic workforce planning and sector-specific skills plans.

 

That will be increasingly relevant to building engineers as digital construction, automation, modern methods of construction and AI change professional roles and the way projects are delivered.
The plan also identifies the need for skills plans covering areas including infrastructure; commercial, public, industrial and high-rise buildings; professional and technical roles; and repair, maintenance and improvement work.

 

Recruiting more people is only part of the problem. The Government highlights an ageing workforce, with around 35% of construction workers now aged over 50, while estimates suggest as many as 750,000 construction workers could retire between 2021 and 2036. The plan therefore emphasises improving retention, career development and the attractiveness of construction as a long-term career.

 

It also recognises the need to broaden the industry's talent pool and improve diversity. This is particularly important given the persistent under-representation of women across construction and the wider built environment. 

 

The Government's workforce plans closely tie into its wider construction ambitions – including 1.5 million new homes, £725bn of infrastructure investment over 10 years and the upgrading of five million existing buildings.

 

The plan also sits alongside wider reforms to the built environment, including changes to building regulation, construction product regulation and the proposed new regulatory framework for the sector. A broader strategy for built environment professions, trades and occupations is due to be published in spring 2027.