The Construction Skills Shortage: Causes and Solutions

The UK needs about 41,200 extra construction workers every year from 2026 to 2030. That's CITB's latest forecast, published in June 2026, and it adds up to around 206,000 people. The shortage comes from three places. Older workers are retiring. Too few new people start and stay. And overseas hiring is harder than it was. The fixes are training, keeping the people you have, and recruiting from wider pools.

How big is the construction skills shortage?

CITB's Construction Workforce Outlook is the industry's main forecast. It used to be called the Construction Skills Network. The 2026 to 2030 edition puts the UK workforce at 2.61 million in 2025, down 1.6% on the year before. It needs to reach about 2.68 million by 2030. That's still below the 2019 peak of 2.83 million.

The 41,200 figure isn't just growth. It also covers people who leave and need replacing.

Here's where CITB expects the extra recruitment to fall on site and in the office.

Role	Extra workers needed each year	As a share of today's workforce
Carpenters and joiners	1,900	1.2%
Labourers	1,810	1.4%
Electrical installation trades	1,690	1.2%
Plumbing and heating trades	1,570	1.2%
Civil engineers	1,180	2.2%
Construction project managers	1,180	2.0%
Bricklayers and masons	1,080	1.6%
Construction trades supervisors	900	1.9%

Selected roles. Source: CITB Construction Workforce Outlook 2026 to 2030, UK report, accurate as of September 2026.

If you're choosing a trade, the big numbers are in carpentry, labouring and the electrical and plumbing trades.

There's a twist. Short-term hiring is cautious. ONS counted 1.7 construction vacancies per 100 jobs, down from 2.8 a year earlier. Most firms employ fewer than five people and can only see three to six months of work ahead. So the shortage is a medium-term problem that small firms feel project by project.

Government targets make it bigger. CITB estimates that building 1.5 million homes and upgrading rented homes would need about 110,000 extra workers a year. It calls that unlikely to be achievable.

Why there aren't enough skilled workers

An ageing workforce

In 2023, about 24% of construction workers were over 55. In 2000 it was around 13%. The average age is now over 42, according to CITB's Industry Picture 2026.

CITB's forecasting notes say permanent retirement is the single biggest net outflow from the workforce. Manual workers also tend to retire earlier than people in other sectors.

Too few people start, and too many don't finish

About 33,000 people started a construction apprenticeship in Britain in 2023/24. The industry needs 41,000 or more new entrants a year. CITB says starts would need to almost triple once you allow for how many drop out.

Just under half of apprentices don't complete their end-point assessment. Only 21% of construction firms employ an apprentice, and 31% offered any work placement in the past year.

The result shows up in hiring. In the government's 2024 Employer Skills Survey, 57% of construction vacancies were hard to fill. That was the highest of any sector.

Harder overseas hiring after Brexit

Since EU free movement ended, most overseas trades workers need a sponsored visa. Numbers through that route are small. Bricklayers averaged about 240 visas a year, and 99% of bricklayers working as employees in 2022 to 2024 were UK nationals.

In July 2026 the Migration Advisory Committee recommended 18 months' access to a new Temporary Shortage List for bricklayers, roofers, carpenters and other trades. It also warned that heavy self-employment in these trades could limit visa use.

How much of today's gap comes from Brexit is hard to pin down. CITB's latest reports don't put a number on it. Migration is one flow among several, not the main one.

People leaving mid-career

CITB says more people leave each year than join. Some retire, some change careers, some may emigrate. A sizeable share of new entrants leave within their first 12 months.

What the shortage costs

CITB lists the knock-on effects plainly. Projects get delayed or cancelled. Wages and subcontractor prices rise. Quality slips, and rework goes up. Some contractors price the risk into higher tenders or don't bid at all.

Pay is higher than average, but it isn't racing ahead. Median construction pay was £19.20 an hour in 2025, against £18 across the economy. Construction wages rose 3.7% that year, slower than the 5.1% across all industries.

Solutions for employers

Grants come first. All employers registered with CITB can apply for a CITB grant, whether or not they pay the levy.

Take on apprentices, or at least offer placements. With only one firm in five employing an apprentice, this is where the supply problem starts. In March 2025 the government announced over £600 million to train up to 60,000 more construction workers by 2029, through Skills Bootcamps, college places and new foundation apprenticeships. Check what's open in your area before you hire.

Keep the people you have. CITB points to flexible hours, less physical roles for older tradespeople, and better site culture for younger workers. Experienced staff who mentor new starters pass on skills that take years to learn.

Grow your own managers. Someone you promote already knows your sites and your standards. The NVQ Level 6 in Construction Site Management is assessed by portfolio, and finishing it makes them eligible for the CSCS Manager card. For wider team training, our employer training plans include a dashboard to assign courses and keep training records. We've written more on training staff for business growth.

Show young people the work. Schools can book a Go Construct STEM Ambassador, someone from the industry who visits to talk about construction careers. Anyone working in construction can sign up.

Solutions for individuals

The shortage is your bargaining power. Roles like civil engineer, surveyor and project manager need the most recruits relative to their size. Among site trades, carpenters, labourers and electricians need the most in raw numbers.

Getting started is quicker than most people think. A CSCS Labourer card needs a CITB test pass plus the Level 1 Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment. Our CSCS Green Card package deals with both parts and the paperwork, from the Level 1 course to a booked CITB test to your card application.

The labourer card is a starting point. A trade NVQ at Level 2, or a finished apprenticeship, gets you the Blue Skilled Worker card. Our guide to skilled labour careers in construction sets out how people move from labouring into a trade.

If you're still deciding, read whether construction is a good career first.

Pick your next step this week. If you're new, run through a couple of our free CITB mock tests to find your weak topics. If you hire, check your CITB grant eligibility before your next training spend.

Frequently asked questions