Closing the Skills Gap: A Critical Step for Wales’s Construction Industry

The Welsh construction industry is at a turning point. With over 9,000 additional workers required by 2027, the need to build better, more efficient homes is becoming increasingly urgent. The launch of Tai ar y Cyd, a collaboration between Welsh Government and 23 Welsh social landlords on January 15, highlighted both the scale of this challenge and the opportunity to reshape the sector through collaboration and innovation.
Here Gareth Wyn Evans, Head of The Construction Wales Innovation Centre at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) shares his thoughts on the future of the industry and the critical path to success:
Addressing Quality and Productivity Challenges
Quality lies at the heart of this issue. Poor workmanship continues to impede progress, with defects and inefficiencies dominating the construction sector. Data from industry reports shows that issues like insulation gaps, air leakage, and poorly installed building membranes are among the most common construction defects. These not only undermine energy efficiency but also increase costs, erode customer confidence, and affect the long-term durability of homes.
Compounding this, a recent report (The Get it Right Initiative) highlights that 79% of costs associated with errors stem from core construction activities, such as trade skills and design. This reflects a deeper issue with productivity and a need for significant investment in skills development. To meet the high standards expected for new homes—whether for airtightness, energy efficiency, or sustainable materials—there must be a shift toward improving the quality of work across all levels of the sector.
Collaboration in Education: A Path Forward
Solving these challenges requires collective effort. Education providers and industry must collaborate to develop shared or regional facilities. This means bringing together providers of applied education across FE and HE, government, and organisations like Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to create a unified approach. By pooling resources, sharing expertise, and investing in cutting-edge technologies, we can prepare the workforce for high-performance building techniques in a cost and time efficient way.
At UWTSD’s Construction Wales Innovation Centre (CWIC), we’re proud to work alongside our partners to champion this developing provision. Through programmes like Enhanced Retrofit Fabric Improvements Training (ERFIT), and our building performance evaluation, and airtightness courses, we combine hybrid learning with hands-on practical experience developed alongside industry partners to equip workers with the necessary skills to meet the growing demand for sustainable, high-quality housing in Wales.
Wales’s education providers have already made strong strides in renewable technologies training, but we must expand this approach to include building fabric skills such as advanced airtightness, energy-efficient design, and further sustainable and biophilic construction methods. These will be critical to achieving the goals of initiatives like Tai ar y Cyd, the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Homes as Power Stations and the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Schools Challenge, which aim to deliver long-term environmental and economic benefits.
Economic Opportunities for Regional Businesses
Closing the skills gap isn’t just about training workers—it’s also about strengthening Wales’s economy. The construction industry remains a vital component, contributing significantly through employment and output. As per the latest available data via GOV.WALES, the sector employs approximately 77,500 individuals.
In terms of economic output, the construction industry in Wales was estimated to be worth around £7.8 billion in 2023 (Dev Bank.) The sector plays a crucial role in supporting regional companies, SMEs, and micro-businesses, which are the backbone of the Welsh construction industry. But they often struggle to access high-quality training and equipment. By creating shared facilities and collaborative training programmes, we can ensure these businesses have the tools they need to thrive.
Access to skilled workers will enable smaller firms to bid for larger contracts, improve service delivery, and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market. This will have a ripple effect, stimulating local economies, creating jobs, and attracting further investment into the sector. As the demand for sustainable construction grows, businesses that adopt innovative techniques will not only future-proof themselves but also unlock new opportunities, such as building and retrofitting homes to meet nearly zero-energy standards.
Building for the Future and Growing the Educator Talent Pool
To truly transform the industry, we need to double down on education for high-performance building techniques and ensure these skills become a core part of the construction curriculum and a key skill across the workforce.
At CWIC, we see the tangible results of this training every day. Programmes like ERFIT have empowered workers to master low-carbon materials, implement advanced airtightness techniques, and contribute directly to Wales’s drive for sustainable construction. By equipping the workforce with these critical skills, we’re addressing industry challenges head-on and helping to build a resilient, future-proofed sector.
None of this can happen without skilled educators. The industry’s ability to mainstream sustainable building techniques depends on growing the pool of trainers who can deliver high-quality instruction. Investing together with industry in the development, recruitment and retention of specialist educators is crucial to ensuring the sector can meet demand. It also ensures that advancements in areas like energy efficiency and high-performance building fabrics become widespread rather than niche practices.
A Shared Vision
Initiatives like Tai ar y Cyd provide a powerful vision of what can be achieved when we work together. By aligning education providers in FE and HE, government, and organisations like CITB, we can close the skills gap and create a thriving construction sector. The focus isn’t just on building better homes—it’s about ensuring those homes are built efficiently, cost-effectively and sustainably. Providing homeowners and tenants with high-quality, healthy, and cost-efficient spaces to call home.
Collaborations like these also deliver broader economic benefits. SMEs and micro-businesses will be better positioned to grow, local economies will benefit, and Wales will stand out as a leader in sustainable construction. Together, we have the opportunity to build not just homes but a stronger, more resilient future for the Welsh construction industry.
Now is the time to act—let’s work together to close the gap, build the workforce of the future, and ensure Wales leads the way.