Overview

The Workforce Mobility and Skills in the UK Construction Sector 2025 research report provides information from site-based workers across the UK construction industry on their qualification levels and the extent of their occupational and geographic mobility. The findings indicate a steady, established workforce, with most having worked in the same occupation and the industry continuously without spells out of work. While job security may reflect stability, low mobility and a reluctance to retrain may make it harder to fill skills gaps from the existing workforce.

Key findings

• Workers are becoming less willing to travel long distances for employment, and in the last 12 months, a third (34%) of all construction workers have worked no more than 20 miles away

• Just over a quarter (28%) of workers have worked more than 50 miles away from their permanent or current home, a decrease from 32% in 2022

• Workforce mobility has traditionally helped the industry respond to peaks in demand

• However, in the last 12 months only one in six (18%) construction workers have worked between 50 and 100 miles away from home, compared to 26% in 2015

• Only one in ten (10%) workers have worked more than 100 miles away, compared to 21% in 2015.

Next steps

Industry, Government and Training Providers and others with responsibility for industry skills development can use the insight to direct their work with greater accuracy and effect.

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