{"id":532617,"date":"2025-11-13T12:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=532617"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:28:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:28:32","slug":"infra-plans-will-stall-unless-250000-workers-a-year-found-report-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/skills\/infra-plans-will-stall-unless-250000-workers-a-year-found-report-warns-13-11-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Infra plans will stall unless 250,000 workers a year found, report warns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">The government is being warned that its infrastructure plans will be held back by \u201cchronic labour shortages\u201d as at least 250,000 workers a year will be needed for major projects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">A new 56-page report, commissioned by the Construction Plant-hire Association, estimates that the 47 per cent of projects that have a capital cost in the government\u2019s UK Infrastructure Pipeline will require around a quarter of a million <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/skills\/support-scheme-set-to-help-employers-host-t-level-placements-22-10-2025\/\">construction workers<\/a> each year in order to be completed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">However, the report warned this figure is \u201clikely to be an underestimate\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The pipeline, which was published in July and underpins the government\u2019s 10-year infrastructure strategy, identified 780 projects or programmes with planned investment of \u00a3525bn over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">However, the new report, complied by advisory firm Oxford Economics, warns that on top of this an estimated 161,000 extra workers will be needed to meet the government\u2019s 1.5 million new homes target.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">At the same time, around 500,000 construction workers are expected to retire over the next 10 to 15 years, it said.<\/p>\n<p>In March, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced \u00a3600m would be spent on training 60,000 extra construction workers.<\/p>\n<p>But the report is calling on ministers to consider other solutions to attract new entrants to the sector.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">More school leavers should be encouraged to join the industry by introducing trades on the school curriculum and improving the quality of vocational training provision, the report said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It also called for shorter, \u201cmore targeted courses\u201d to allow skills to be gained more quickly and shorten the time taken to earn competitive wages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThis would allow the construction sector to compete more effectively with employers like Amazon,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It has also called for more recruitment of women and those from an ethnic minority background to tackle the skills crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It added: \u201cProgrammes in schools and colleges that challenge stereotypes and show that construction does not only require \u2018heavy labour\u2019 but diverse skills such as design and digital skills as well as project management is likely to broaden the sector\u2019s appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Another option could be to design a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/skills\/most-construction-roles-remain-on-immigration-shortage-list-for-now-13-10-2025\/\">special visa scheme<\/a> for construction workers, similar to those for health and care, and agricultural workers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u201cFor example, foreign construction workers could receive a general construction sector visa to work for a wide range of registered construction firms, rather than being tied simply to one employer,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u201cMoreover, construction firms could get pre-approval for a given number of work visas, without having to specify in advance exactly who will get them, and then register staff once they are hired, making the process easier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Writing in the report\u2019s foreword, Construction Plant-hire Association chief executive Steve Mulholland also called for a stable policy environment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cFrequent policy changes, however well-intentioned, risk undermining business confidence and reducing the sector\u2019s capacity to reinvest, and uncertainty over future costs can delay decisions that are vital to raising productivity and meeting decarbonisation goals,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>A government spokesperson said: \u201cThrough our Plan for Change we have taken decisive action to build up essential skills in the construction industry and are providing \u00a3625m of funding to create up to 60,000 more engineers, bricklayers, electricians, and joiners by 2029 to tackle skills shortages.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are also enhancing the Local Skills Improvement Plan model to give Strategic Authorities a stronger role in identifying and addressing local skills needs and issues.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The government is being warned that its infrastructure plans will be held back by \u201cchronic labour shortages\u201d as at least 250,000 workers a year will be needed for major projects. A new 56-page report, commissioned by the Construction Plant-hire Association, estimates that the 47 per cent of projects that have a capital cost in the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29901,"featured_media":504118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[565,575],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-532617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","category-skills"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Infra plans will stall unless 250,000 workers a year found, report warns | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The government is being warned that its infrastructure plans will be held back by \u201cchronic labour shortages\u201d as at least 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