Construction recruiter warns of ‘brutal’ skills shortage 

A construction and engineering recruiter has warned the UK’s construction industry is facing a skills shortage that will “make 2007’s War for Talent look like a water fight”. 

Simon Harris, managing director of construction, property and engineering recruitment at Randstad UK, said a combination of current mega construction projects and those that are yet to begin, as well as the imminent resurgence of the housebuilding market, is set to intensify the current talent shortage and lead to “a brutal labour shortage”. 

Harris said: “HS2 alone employs a couple of percent of the UK’s entire construction workforce. Sizewell C is already hoovering up talent. Hinkley Point isn’t finished, and neither is the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The construction industry is already stretched thin. 

“We have lost a lot of people from the housebuilding side of the industry, in particular: the workforce has lost close to half a million people since 2008. There’s very little slack in the system.” 

Harris added that an expected dip in interest rates will see housebuilders “put their foot on the gas”, which will lead to the “perfect storm” in 2026, when the Lower Thames Crossing kicks off. 

“Construction employers without a bullet-proof long-term workforce plan will find the going very hard indeed,” he said. “It will make the 2007 War for Talent look like a water fight. And who knows what the sector does when we break ground on the 1.25-mile Stonehenge tunnel and start overhauling eight miles of the A303.” 

According to Harris, in order to meet the skills challenge, construction employers have to hire approximately half a million people – making effective recruitment processes more important than ever. 

“Employers who want to navigate the next few years effectively are going to have to look at hiring people from different backgrounds and fishing in more diverse talent pools; pay more for skills; and grow more of their own talent,” Harris said.  

“They need to focus on apprenticeships and training new hires as well as upskilling existing employees. They’re going to have to move to skills first recruitment, rather than looking for ‘experience’ above all else. Let’s not forget that experience doesn’t exist for some new roles like green skills or AI-based tech. 

“Employers are also going to have to start moving faster to secure the best talent – protracted recruitment processes will prove utterly counter-productive.”