The UK’s construction skills shortage has been back in the news in recent weeks. CITBs latest Constuction Workforce Outlook 2026-2030 forecasts that our industry will need an additional 41,200 workers every year to meet demand. At the same time Skills England has identified construction as one of the priority sectors saying there is an urgent need to attract, develop and retain more talented people. With fewer than one in five construction workers under 25 and more than a third over 50, the shortage is as much about age as it is about numbers. Our industry has to get better at attracting young people.
We believe that creating a great workplace is part of the solution, and why our recent Sunday Times recognition for being the best place to work in the UK for 16-34 year olds meant so much to us.
Over the past few weeks alone we have welcomed work experience students from a range of schools, colleges and universities across our offices, giving them a taste of all the possible careers in the industry. From Building Surveying to People & Culture, and Advisory Services to Marketing we have shown this enthusiastic group the varied and exciting career paths construction can take you on. Work experience sits alongside our apprenticeships, graduate programmes and packed L&D calendar, and together they’re how we’re helping to close the gap.
