Addressing the construction skills shortage is a national imperative

Richard Risdon is managing director for UK and Europe at Mott MacDonald

From decarbonising our grid, to transforming social infrastructure and connecting communities through world class transport systems, our national infrastructure to-do list represents the type and scale of challenge that engineers relish. And, while we are a profession of optimists, whose reason for being is to present solutions, our existing talent pool is simply not big enough to deliver on all this in the timescale that any future government would aspire to.

According to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), there were approximately 2.15M people working in the construction industry in 2023. During that year, 210,000 left the industry, while only 200,000 joined, but in total an extra 251,500 are needed by 2028 to meet the current expected levels of work. The sums just don’t add up.

As an industry, there are initiatives that we can put in place to tap into new pools of talent, such as the Armed Forces Pathway, which Mott MacDonald has developed to offer careers to serving personnel, veterans, reservists, and their families right across our business. However, there is only so much we can do as companies individually or even collectively.

Instead of periodically returning to this well-rehearsed debate, we need the next government to work with us as an industry to address the skills shortage as a national imperative, ensuring it remains a top priority until we have turned the tables on this trend. We need government to step forward with a unifying strategy.

Investing in infrastructure acts as a nationwide equaliser. As highlighted in the recent Blueprint for Growth: infrastructure and construction sector priorities ahead of the UK general election report, which we signed alongside 12 other tier one infrastructure and construction contractors and consultants, there is a particular benefit to ensuring that we can deliver the infrastructure society needs.

The blueprint rightly highlights that by directing resources into essential projects such as transportation and energy, jobs and apprenticeships are generated in communities across the country, stimulating local economies. The resulting growth not only enhances regional connectivity but also ensures a more equitable distribution of opportunities, contributing to a more inclusive and balanced national economy, uplifting communities and fostering long-term prosperity.

The single biggest act government could take to address the skills shortage would be to provide our industry with commitment and stability on policy and regulation, as well as the pipeline of projects, enabling us to invest with certainty in our own businesses for the long-term. That request stands alone, but also alongside I believe that there are five fundamentals to tackling the skills challenge:

1. With digital delivery becoming the standard, construction is now more accessible than ever before, but government support is needed for policies promoting equality, diversity and inclusion at every stage of the career pathway
2. We need a holistic programme to ensure young people choose STEM subjects throughout school, and then in further and higher education, apprenticeships, training and their career choices
3. Transforming the Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible “Skills Levy” would allow employers to allocate funds efficiently to bridge skill gaps, prioritising upskilling and shorter technical courses This would support an industry focus on accelerating the transfer of deep technical expertise from generation to generation, and from senior managers right the way through these apprentices
4. Implementing a responsive immigration system is crucial for meeting infrastructure ambitions. The ultimate aim should be that construction roles should no longer need to be listed in the Shortage Occupation Lists but they must remain there until the skills issue is solved. This includes bringing in experts from other countries to train the UK workforce on specific skills needed for key projects. Simplifying bureaucratic processes for bringing in short-term workers would ensure the timely delivery of infrastructure schemes.
5. Government and industry need to work together to “market” our sector, along the lines of the Generation Logistics campaign. Education and marketing should be part of a multi-year national workforce strategy that makes sure we have the people to deliver the pipeline of projects required in future.

Scaling back on infrastructure delivery is not an option, so let’s get serious about working to resolve our skills challenge. Real change comes from a systemic collaborative push, backed by positive government policy and the will of an industry that is backed to succeed. Everyone I come across is ready and up for this challenge and looking forward to working with government on it too.

• Richard Risdon is managing director for UK and Europe at Mott MacDonald

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