Overview

The Local skills Scotland report provides an up-to-date assessment of construction workforce supply and demand across Scotland’s regions, identifying where critical skills gaps exist and what this means for supporting Scotland’s future-built environment. The report highlights that addressing skills shortages in local workforces is essential if Scotland is to meet its ambitions for an energy-efficient, sustainable and resilient construction sector.

Key findings

• Skills gaps persist across Scotland, with labour market pressures first identified in 2018 continuing due to high vacancy levels and competition from other sectors

• The Southeast faces the largest gap, with workforce supply falling significantly short of demand, drawing workers from neighbouring areas

• Despite pressures, the majority of Scotland’s construction workforce is locally grown, with 94% living in Scotland when they began their construction careers, and 76% working in Scotland their entire career - highlighting the importance of local recruitment and training pipelines

• Regional imbalances vary: some regions such as Glasgow & the West now experience shortages across all occupational groups, while areas like Lanarkshire and the Southwest currently show more supply than demand

• Employers will need to broaden recruitment approaches, tapping into a wider and more diverse working age population to fill local gaps.

Next steps

To meet Scotland’s future construction needs - particularly in delivering sustainable, energy-efficient infrastructure - concerted action is required from employers, government and training partners. CITB will continue to support Scotland through its priorities of strengthening the people pipeline, improving training supply, and creating clear training pathways. Employers are encouraged to expand recruitment methods, invest in local talent, and engage with skills planning at regional level to ensure the workforce is equipped for the challenges ahead.

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