Public procurement urged to build construction workforce, not just buy capacity

Public procurement could become one of the most effective tools for easing construction’s skills crisis if it is used not just to buy capacity for the next contract, but to help shape the workforce that will deliver work for years to come.

That is the argument advanced by Graham Collie, director of product innovation at LHC Procurement Group, who says the sector’s labour shortage is now a delivery problem as much as a workforce problem. Skills England’s first annual Skill...

s Report and Sector Skills Needs Assessment, as he notes, point to the need for more than one million additional workers by 2035 if government housing and infrastructure ambitions are to be met. Without enough trained people, the drive to build new homes, upgrade public buildings and retrofit existing stock becomes far harder to deliver in practice.

The scale of the challenge is not unique to the UK. In the United States, a 2025 survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and the National Center for Construction Education and Research found that 92% of construction firms were struggling to hire qualified workers, with shortages contributing to delays on site. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has similarly warned that Britain’s construction labour gap is affecting roles across the industry, from quantity surveyors and engineers to planners and skilled trades, while also undermining workmanship and project quality. Across markets, the message is the same: demand is outpacing the sector’s ability to recruit, train and retain enough people.

Collie argues that public procurement should respond to that reality more strategically. Too often, he says, authorities approach tendering with a narrow assumption that suppliers will simply bring the necessary workforce with them. That may secure delivery on a single project, but it also risks intensifying competition for a limited pool of labour. A more effective model would use the public sector’s buying power to create visible, dependable pipelines of work that encourage firms to invest in apprenticeships, recruitment and training.

That point is especially relevant in retrofit and low-carbon construction, where long-term demand is clear but delivery capacity remains uneven. A report published through LHC Procurement Group’s partnership with the National Retrofit Hub, A Vision for a Strong Retrofit System, argues that short-term funding and fragmented programmes have made it difficult for the sector to build the stable capacity needed for consistent delivery. The report identifies long-term direction and lasting capacity as foundations of a stronger retrofit system, precisely because employers are far more likely to back training and recruitment when they can see work ahead.

The structure of procurement matters as much as the volume of spending. If opportunities are broken into fragmented, short-lived exercises, suppliers struggle to plan. Smaller firms, in particular, can be discouraged by complex requirements or contract sizes that are beyond their reach. Yet SMEs are often deeply embedded in local communities and can be vital to building a more resilient supply chain. Collie’s argument is that procurement should not merely select who can deliver now, but consider how the shape of contracts can help expand the market over time.

That includes setting employment and skills expectations that are proportionate and realistic. Public contracts can be used to support apprenticeships, routes into work for career changers and opportunities for people who are underrepresented in construction. They can also encourage collaboration with colleges, training providers and community organisations. But Collie cautions that such measures should not become a box-ticking exercise. Counting training hours or apprenticeship starts may be useful, but the more important question is whether those interventions lead to durable careers and a stronger industry in the long run.

There is also a commercial logic to taking that approach. If suppliers are expected to take on apprentices and invest in training, they need confidence that future work will exist to sustain those investments. Early engagement between clients, contractors and training providers can help identify where shortages are likely to emerge and align provision before gaps become acute. The Federal Highway Administration in the United States has made a similar case through its workforce development work, which stresses the value of coordinated efforts to identify, train, place and retain workers in infrastructure roles.

For public bodies, the prize is not only social value but better delivery. A stronger skills base improves competition, reduces pressure on live projects and makes it easier to bring forward future programmes. In that sense, investment in workforce development is not separate from procurement; it is part of making procurement work.

Collie’s central point is that the public sector’s purchasing decisions already influence how the market behaves. The question is whether that influence is being used deliberately. Individual organisations cannot solve the construction skills shortage alone, and procurement is only one part of the answer. But if it is designed with the long term in mind, it can help create the conditions in which firms have the confidence to train, recruit and retain the people the sector will need.

The challenge, then, is not simply to find enough skilled workers for the next project. It is to use the projects being procured now to build the workforce that will be required throughout the next decade.

Source: Noah Wire Services