Mark Harrison, Head of EDI Transformation at the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), argues that improving equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across the construction industry is essential to addressing the sector’s growing skills shortage.
With underrepresentation still widespread and demand for workers rising, Harrison highlights the crucial role clients can play in driving lasting change.
Closing the skills gap
The case for improving diversity and inclusion in the construction sector couldn’t be clearer in an age where the ongoing skills gap poses a serious threat to infrastructure targets of governments across the globe.
While some progress has been made on making the industry more diverse and inclusive since the turn of the century, this needs to be significantly accelerated if we are to address underrepresentation and contribute to addressing the skills gaps.
On the one hand, we continue to see significant under-representation of certain groups in the industry in the UK. Data from the 2024 Diversity Benchmarking survey by the Supply Chain Sustainability School shows we have a long way to go to achieve genuine representation.
The latest report from the CITB, published in 2025, says 239,300 construction workers will be needed over the next five years
It says women account for 24.6% of people employed in the construction sector (including off-site, back-office staff); Disabled People make up 2.9% of the national working population across all industries compared to estimates of 18% of the general population; and people from minority ethnic backgrounds account for 15.2% of people working in construction, compared to circa 18% of the general population in England and Wales.
At the same time, we have substantial and persistent skills gaps and people shortages in the sector, which are holding back growth.
The latest report from the CITB, published in 2025, says 239,300 construction workers will be needed over the next five years.
If we do not address this problem, the projected growth in infrastructure, repairs, and maintenance will not be met.
This is why the UK Government’s new Construction Skills Mission Board, launched with support from senior ministers and industry CEOs, has adopted a target of bringing 100,000 new people into the sector each year.
We know the built environment sector is primarily made up of SMEs that have tight profit margins and limited resources
Of course, this isn’t just an issue in the UK. The Canadian Construction Association reported 13% of the nation’s construction workforce is due to retire between 2022 and 2027, roughly 85,000 workers.
According to the Associated General Contractors of America survey, 70% of respondents were concerned about an insufficient supply of workers or subcontractors, and 80% were struggling to fill some or all positions.
That said, in recent years we have seen some very positive developments – 2022 saw the signing of a three-year agreement between six of the largest professional institutes in the built environment sector (CIOB, ICE, LI, RIBA, RICS & RTPI), committing to work together for the first time, to promote a welcoming, inclusive and accessible industry.
We know that young people are increasingly looking for companies with a positive attitude to social value, sustainability, and EDI
This year, we saw the signing of a new EDI MoU, this time for five years and with three new institutes joining the partnership – CIHT, CICES, and the CIAT, demonstrating that, despite politically-motivated attacks on inclusive practices in some parts of the world, the sector remains committed to fairness and diversity and addressing the skills gaps.
Another encouraging sign is the Construction Leadership Council’s launch of a new cross-sector EDI community in January 2025 with the aim of providing a consistent approach on this agenda and a ‘one-stop-shop' approach.
Such initiatives give encouragement to the notion that we may yet meet those sector recruitment targets.
A client’s role in driving EDI
We know the built environment sector is primarily made up of SMEs that have tight profit margins and limited resources, and, for them, a visible commitment to EDI may not be a top priority.
That’s why the role of the client can be enormously positive in creating an accessible and inclusive culture and requiring contractors to demonstrate an understanding of, and a commitment to EDI.
For example, this could be done at a basic level by asking companies for evidence they are signed up to an EDI Charter– such as the CIOB Charter, which currently has 360 signatories. Larger companies can reasonably be expected to demonstrate they understand their workforce and have taken actions to address under-representation
and to promote an inclusive workplace culture.
It’s important, however such expectations of contractors during the procurement process must be proportionate to the size of the company and the value of the work they’re bidding for. We want to help clients and their construction teams to join the efforts to promote positive change in the sector, not be held back by them.
This year, we saw the signing of a new EDI MoU
That is why CIOB has a ‘Chatham House’ rules Employers’ Forum, a range of CPD resources, and a Technical Information Sheet for SMEs to help them adopt best practice when it comes to EDI.
We know that young people are increasingly looking for companies with a positive attitude to social value, sustainability, and EDI – so it makes good business sense for contractors of all sizes to commit to creating an inclusive working environment and help attract the best recruits from the widest pool.
The more clients who place expectations on suppliers to do so, the more progress will be made to ensure the construction industry is truly representative of those it builds for.