Construction industry in Britain faces a shortage of 61,000 workers, potentially jeopardizing Labour's promise to build 1.5 million homes.
The UK construction sector is facing a significant talent shortage, with a shrinking workforce and an aging workforce being major contributing factors. According to recent data, 15% of workers in the industry are over 60 years old, and the workforce has declined by 14% over the past five years [1][2].
CV-Library's survey and data analysis have revealed that the talent gap is compounded by worker dissatisfaction. Over half (52%) of construction workers reported no pay rise in the past year, 66% felt employers do not invest sufficiently in upskilling, 58% cited poor access to training and development, and lack of career progression was the top frustration for 52% of respondents [1].
Despite a surge in job vacancies by 7.9% between January and July 2025, the sector is struggling with retention and attraction. The most in-demand job vacancies across the industry include Project Managers, Quantity Surveyors, Site Managers, Labourers, Groundworkers, and Building Surveyors, with respective average salaries ranging from £28,892 to £81,750 [1].
The West Midlands and North West regions have high application volumes for construction roles in 2025. However, the industry's future is at risk due to a need to recruit 61,000 new workers annually [1].
Proposed solutions to address the talent gap emphasize urgent, multi-pronged action. These include:
- Investing significantly in skills development and upskilling, including expanding access to training and accredited courses [1][5].
- Enhancing retention efforts by improving pay, career progression opportunities, and worker engagement to reduce turnover [1].
- Attracting new entrants through apprenticeships and facilitating career changers into construction roles, leveraging the sector’s relative job security and growth prospects [1][2].
- Industry-wide initiatives to professionalise training, such as PERI UK’s accredited temporary works training courses, aim to improve skill levels and confidence across the workforce [5].
- Skills-based hiring approaches, increasingly adopted in labor markets, help broaden access by focusing on actual competencies rather than traditional degree requirements, which may help fill talent shortages [4].
These measures are critical to fulfilling ambitious infrastructure and housing development targets, including Labour’s 1.5 million new homes pledge by 2030, which depends heavily on addressing the talent deficit [1][2].
In summary, the UK construction talent gap stems from workforce shrinkage, aging staff, poor pay and development investment, and lack of career progression—all requiring urgent strategic investment in skills, retention, and recruitment pipelines to sustain the sector and national infrastructure goals [1][2][5].
Sources:
[1] CV-Library (2025). The State of the UK Construction Industry: A Talent Gap Analysis. [Online] Available at: https://www.cv-library.co.uk/resources/research/the-state-of-the-uk-construction-industry-a-talent-gap-analysis/
[2] Construction Industry Training Board (2025). Labour Demand Forecasts for the Construction Industry. [Online] Available at: https://www.citb.co.uk/about-us/our-research-and-insights/our-research/labour-market-information/labour-demand-forecasts/
[3] PERI UK (2025). Accredited Temporary Works Training Courses. [Online] Available at: https://www.peri.co.uk/en-gb/news/peri-uk-launches-accredited-temporary-works-training-courses
[4] McKinsey & Company (2023). The Power of Skills-Based Hiring. [Online] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organization/our-insights/the-power-of-skills-based-hiring
[5] Construction News (2025). The Future of Construction Skills: A Multi-Pronged Approach. [Online] Available at: https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/opinion/the-future-of-construction-skills-a-multi-pronged-approach/10048054.article
Investing significantly in skills development and upskilling is crucial for the construction business, as it involves expanding access to training and accredited courses to address the talent gap [1][5].
To attract new entrants to the construction industry, apprenticeships and facilitating career changes into construction roles could be employed, leveraging the sector’s relative job security and growth prospects [1][2].
