Dany

The United Kingdom is at a crossroads. With an ambitious infrastructure programme, encompassing HS2, nuclear new build, flood defence schemes and the monumental task of achieving net zero, the demand for civil engineering is at an all-time high. Beneath the surface of this potential golden era for the UK civil engineering sector, there lies a crisis so profound and so deep that it threatens to undermine the very future we are building. The problem is simple: the industry cannot find enough skilled people to deliver the future we are tasked to build. This is not just a human resources challenge that can be solved with better recruitment advertising or a few training workshops. This is an existential crisis for the nation’s infrastructure delivery, economic growth and our ability to meet our climate targets.

In a sobering report, the Institution of Civil Engineers’ 2024 Skills Survey, more than 89% of civil engineering employers surveyed say that they are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit suitably qualified staff and this trend is worsening year on year. The sector is crying out for an estimated 225,000 additional workers by 2027 to deliver our current pipeline of projects. Yet the supply of qualified civil engineers, technicians and skilled tradespeople is not just not keeping up, it is in freefall. We are facing a skills black hole where our current needs will not only wipe out our existing workforce but also create a vicious cycle where delays, cost overruns and quality issues on projects further damage our sector’s reputation and ability to attract the next generation of talent.

The reality of this situation is that the construction workforce is ageing rapidly. The average age of a chartered civil engineer is now over 45 years old, and a significant proportion of the most experienced professionals are due to retire within the next ten years. In specialist areas such as service ducting design and installation for example – vital unseen infrastructure which is the backbone of modern urban living, providing power, telecommunications, water, waste, drainage and much more – the sector’s knowledge base is shockingly weighted towards workers in their fifties and sixties. As these professionals reach retirement age they will take with them decades of practical experience which simply cannot be replaced by academic qualifications overnight.

If this demographic challenge was spread evenly across the country, it might be more easily absorbed by the workforce. However, it is in regional markets like here in Lincolnshire where the effects are most keenly felt. Across the county, major infrastructure projects are springing up, from flood defence works to agricultural drainage systems and renewable energy installations, all requiring significant civil engineering expertise. At the same time, local firms find themselves struggling to recruit and retain qualified civil engineers, as the pull of London and other major urban centres drains the talent pool, and salary levels in the capital make it difficult to compete.

The problem is not just amongst professional engineers, but also amongst the skilled trades who are the backbone of construction delivery. Bricklayers, plant operators, groundworkers and specialist installers are also ageing out of the workforce and there simply aren’t enough apprentices coming through to replace them. Even if all current apprentices stayed on to work in the industry for the next 30 years, there is still a critical shortage of workers to meet today’s needs, let alone growth in project pipelines. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) estimates that an additional 225,000 workers must be recruited by 2027 to maintain the status quo, before even beginning to meet growth in project pipelines.

The Demographic Time Bomb

The reality is, demand for civil engineering skills far outstrips supply. However, it is not just a problem of an ageing workforce. Civil engineering in the 21st century requires a different skillset to the past. The sector is not keeping pace with the rate of digital transformation taking place, and as a result, the types of skills employers are demanding have shifted fundamentally. One of the most striking examples is in the area of Building Information Modelling (BIM). No longer a nice-to-have capability, BIM has become a contractual requirement on major projects, with specific BIM deliverables and collaborative working requirements written into contracts. Yet many experienced engineers lack the necessary skills to deliver, and the industry as a whole is now competing with technology companies, financial services and other sectors for data scientists, software developers and digital specialists.

The Digital Skills Dilemma

Major contractors are of course waking up to this, and are investing heavily in digital transformation. Balfour Beatty, for example, launched their Digital Academy in 2021, with the aim of upskilling 10,000 employees in digital technologies by 2025. This covers everything from basic digital literacy to advanced data analytics, AI applications and digital twin technology. Skanska has also integrated digital skills training into their workforce development programmes, with the understanding that the civil engineer of the future will need to be as fluent in Python and machine learning algorithms as they are in soil mechanics and structural analysis.

Corporate initiatives such as these are all very welcome and it is great to see. However, it is also important to recognise that they are not a silver bullet. They are fundamentally limited in reach. SMEs which deliver the vast majority of civil engineering projects by volume do not have the resources to establish these sorts of training academies. A civil engineering firm in Lincolnshire with twenty employees will not have the budget to send staff on extended digital skills courses or hire dedicated data scientists. Yet it is these firms who increasingly find themselves locked out of major project frameworks because they cannot demonstrate the digital capability that clients now demand.

The problem is simple: the competition for digital skills has driven salaries to levels that the civil engineering sector cannot match. You can pay £60,000 to £80,000 for a data scientist with three years’ experience in London’s technology sector. However, you are struggling to find a civil engineer with equivalent experience who will work in Lincolnshire for less than £35,000 to £45,000. This disparity makes it almost impossible to compete for digital talent, even when the actual work being done using data to optimise infrastructure performance, predict maintenance needs or model climate resilience would be deeply appealing to those motivated by impact.

In fact, it is exactly this kind of work which would appeal to those motivated by impact and help drive retention within the industry. Young engineers who are motivated by being able to solve real-world problems, to make a difference to people’s lives and communities will be able to find work that inspires them in civil engineering. However, when they leave university, they are competing against sectors that can pay them more, with companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook all offering six-figure salaries with just a Bachelor’s degree.

Our real challenge is in the pipeline: the numbers flowing from schools through further education, apprenticeships and university programmes simply do not deliver enough appropriately skilled entrants to the workforce. Take civil engineering degrees, applications have fallen by 12% over the past five years, even as the industry’s need for graduates has never been higher. The subject struggles with poor awareness in schools, outdated perceptions of the profession and is simply uncompetitive with more fashionable subjects like computer science and environmental science, with the result that students are not applying.

The apprenticeship route, historically the main route into civil engineering trades and technician roles, has been undermined by a combination of policy instability and funding issues. The Apprenticeship Levy, introduced with much fanfare, has been a poor fit for construction’s needs. Small firms do not have sufficient levy funds to support apprentices, and larger firms struggle with the complexity and rigidity of standards. The result is that apprenticeship starts in construction have stagnated, with far too few young people entering the skilled trades to replace those leaving the industry.

The universities which train our graduates are not entirely blameless. Their degree programmes are very good at teaching students the theory they need, but when those students graduate and arrive in their first professional role, they often lack practical experience with the software, tools, contractual frameworks and site management realities they will encounter on day one on the job. To make matters worse, when they do finally get into a role, the resources available to give them that experience are being stripped out of modern civil engineering contracts. As a result, employers are left to invest in training their new employees on the job only for many of them to leave for technology companies, management consultancies or completely different careers after a few years. This turnover makes the skills shortage problem even worse and it discourages firms from investing in training when the return on investment is so uncertain.

As engineers we are trained to solve problems. We are taught to break down complex challenges into manageable components, to think critically and to find innovative solutions. The problem we face today with skills is just such a challenge, and to solve it, we need to think like engineers.

We need to map the skills pipeline: to understand where people are entering the industry, where they come from, why they choose engineering, and what kind of skills they are bringing. This is the first step towards identifying where the bottlenecks are and how we can improve the flow.

We need to bridge the employer-employee value divide. Employers need to recognise that the skills they are looking for are changing, and they need to adapt. They need to invest in training and development, not just for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the industry as a whole. At the same time, employees need to see the value in the training and development opportunities being offered to them, and they need to commit to continuous learning and improvement.

We need to invest in training and development for everyone: from university students to experienced professionals. This includes not just technical skills, but also digital skills, sustainability, health and safety, and interpersonal skills like communication and teamwork. Everyone has skills gaps, and everyone can benefit from training and development.

We need to keep investing in training, even when the return on investment is uncertain. When an employee leaves, it can be tempting to write off the investment that went into their training. However, to build a strong and sustainable industry, we need to commit to investing in people, even when the immediate returns are not clear.

We need to be realistic about the changes we are asking employees to make. Learning new skills, especially digital skills, can be challenging, and it is important to give people the time and support they need to develop.

Finally, we need to make the sector more attractive: to people looking to enter it and to those already here. This means tackling the issues that drive turnover and dissatisfaction, such as poor work-life balance, lack of career progression and low pay. It means promoting the positive aspects of the industry: the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives, the chance to work on projects that will be used and admired for generations, and the satisfaction of seeing your ideas turn into reality.

We have a big problem with skills in the UK civil engineering sector, but we also have the tools and the know-how to solve it. It will take effort, investment and commitment from everyone in the industry, but if we can work together to map the skills pipeline, bridge the employer-employee value divide, and invest in training and development for all, we can build a strong and sustainable future for the sector.

The Challenge Facing UK Civil Engineering: Regional DisparitiesSkills Dearth Varies Across Regions 

While the skills crisis is a national issue, its impact and the specific challenges it presents vary greatly across different UK regions. London and the South East, despite their own recruitment challenges, can access larger talent pools and offer salaries that attract workers from other parts of the UK and abroad. In contrast, regional markets, especially those in less densely populated or traditionally less economically dominant areas like Lincolnshire, the North East, and rural Wales, face far more acute constraints.

The regional disparities in skills availability exacerbate the vicious cycle of underdevelopment in these areas. Major infrastructure projects, often envisioned as catalysts for regional economic development, find themselves hamstrung by the lack of local skilled labour. Contractors have no choice but to bring in workers from other regions, inflating costs and diminishing the local economic impact. At the same time, local civil engineers and skilled tradespeople, facing a lack of career opportunities in their home regions, are drawn to the major projects in the cities, further depleting the regional skills base. The erosion of skills makes future projects even harder to deliver, creating a negative feedback loop that hinders regional development.

Case Study: Service Ducting Delays 

Service ducting projects are a clear example of how regional skills disparities can lead to project delays. As the roll-out of digital infrastructure becomes a crucial part of the UK’s economic development strategy, the need for extensive service ducting work to lay fibre optic cables, 5G infrastructure, and smart city systems has surged. This is a highly specialised activity requiring not only civil engineers who understand the nuances of both traditional groundworks and modern telecommunications requirements but also skilled installers who can work to tight tolerances in often congested urban environments.

In regions where the skills base has been historically weaker, these relatively straightforward ducting projects can face significant delays and quality issues, severely hampering the digital connectivity that regional economies need to compete. The situation is made worse by the national shortage of skilled workers willing to relocate to these regions, making it difficult for even well-funded, high-priority projects to meet their timelines.

Industry Initiatives and the Scale Issue 

Major contractors have made efforts to address the skills shortage with varying degrees of success. Balfour Beatty’s Infrastructure Skills Academy is one such initiative, having trained over 1,000 apprentices since its inception, and not only provides apprenticeships but also offers upskilling and reskilling opportunities for existing employees. The company has also been involved in developing degree apprenticeships in collaboration with universities, creating a hybrid pathway that aims to mitigate some of the traditional route’s shortcomings.

Skanska, another industry heavyweight, has invested £10 million annually in training and development programmes. Their “Build Yourself” initiative offers employees access to over 3,000 training courses, ranging from technical skill development to leadership and management. Skanska has also pioneered the concept of “Skills Academies” on some of its major projects, where experienced workers are given the time and resources to train the next generation of engineers and craftsmen on-site, blending academic training with practical, real-world application.

While these efforts are commendable and necessary, they also highlight the inherent limitations when such investment and innovation are concentrated in a few large organisations. The civil engineering and broader construction industry in the UK is highly fragmented, with thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that, due to their size, cannot or do not have the resources to establish or maintain comprehensive training and apprenticeship programmes. These SMEs are often the first to benefit from the workers trained by the larger contractors but lack the capacity to train workers themselves, creating a free-rider problem that can disincentivise the larger firms from investing at the necessary scale.

Furthermore, these company-specific training programmes, while valuable, cannot single-handedly solve the systemic issues in the pipeline from schools and universities. Without a concerted effort to raise awareness and interest in civil engineering from a young age, as well as ensuring students have the basic numeracy and scientific literacy to embark on such training programmes, the industry will continue to face an uphill battle. The scale of the challenge requires a coordinated, sector-wide approach that unifies these disparate efforts into a coherent strategy.

A Tentative Way Forward? 

Given the scale and urgency of the skills crisis in UK civil engineering, it is clear that there is no silver bullet or quick fix. The solution requires a multifaceted approach that includes immediate, short-term actions as well as long-term strategic shifts in how the industry engages with education, recruitment, and workforce development. There are several critical areas that, if addressed collectively, could start to turn the tide against the skills black hole.

The industry must significantly enhance its visibility and appeal to the younger generation. Civil engineering has a vital role to play in tackling many of the most pressing challenges facing society, from climate change and sustainable development to creating resilient, future-proof infrastructure. However, these powerful narratives and the exciting careers that they support often fail to penetrate the consciousness of school students. The industry needs a concerted, well-funded campaign to improve its image, one that showcases the innovative, impactful work that civil engineers are doing in the digital age.

The apprenticeship system, a crucial pathway into the industry, requires substantial reform to make it more aligned with the needs of the construction sector. This includes increasing flexibility in standards, improving funding mechanisms for smaller firms to access apprenticeships, and creating clearer linkages between apprenticeships and career progression to incentivise uptake and completion.

Universities also have a role to play in modernising their civil engineering curricula. This involves not just the integration of digital skills throughout the programmes but a fundamental rethinking of how these skills are taught to reflect their centrality to modern practice. Partnerships between universities and the industry need to be strengthened to ensure graduates are equipped with the practical skills and understanding of modern tools and techniques, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM). Sustainability, systems thinking, and collaborative working methods that are now fundamental to contemporary projects should also be embedded into the curriculum.

Addressing the retention crisis is another critical piece of the puzzle. Improving working conditions, providing clear career progression pathways, and promoting better work-life balance are essential to retaining talent in the sector. The long-hours culture endemic to construction is not only unsustainable but counterproductive if the industry is to attract and retain a diverse and skilled workforce.

Finally, the government must start to treat infrastructure as impossible to deliver without the workforce necessary to deliver it. This means sustained investment in training and skills development, an immigration policy that allows the sector to recruit where necessary from overseas when domestic supply is insufficient, and a move away from the lowest-bid procurement towards one that rewards firms that are investing in workforce development and other long-term initiatives.

Conclusion 

The UK civil engineering sector is in the midst of a skills crisis of unprecedented depth and breadth. An ageing workforce, competition with the digital sector for highly skilled workers, and the faltering pipeline from schools and universities into the industry have combined to create a perfect storm. Unless urgent and coordinated action is taken, this skills black hole will only continue to widen, with severe consequences for the UK’s ability to deliver the infrastructure it needs for economic growth, regional development, and to meet its climate commitments.

The road ahead will be challenging. It requires sustained investment, not just in training and skills development but in marketing and public relations, and government, not just in policy and funding but in education and immigration reform. The efforts of major contractors to establish training academies and to embrace digital transformation are steps in the right direction, but they are just the start.

There is cause for optimism. The interest and enthusiasm of young people in meaningful careers that can address climate change and other societal challenges is a solid foundation to build on. The UK’s civil engineering expertise is world-leading, and its universities are world-class. What is needed now is a coordinated, sector-wide response, with a clear sense of urgency and a willingness to invest in the future.

The skills black hole is real, and it is growing. The UK civil engineering sector must build its own future—literally—by investing in the people who will design, construct, and maintain the critical infrastructure that society relies on. The alternative is a future where ambitions for infrastructure-led growth, regional development, and climate resilience remain forever on the drawing board, unable to be built because the people to build them simply do not exist.