Britain is suffering a shortage of labour for building and engineering professionals.
Infrastructure and house-building initiatives could be set back as a result.
Such skilled workers for the construction sector are now the most sought-after workers in the UK, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, which also says the shortage is resulting in larger pay offers.
Engineers, surveyors and architects were singled out as being particularly hard to recruit, but bricklayers and drivers also were said to be in short supply.
Bernard Brown, a partner at KPMG who compiled the research, said that the UK is “in the grip of an industry-wide skills shortage which shows no signs of abating”, threatening the UK’s wider economy.
“Construction in particular is struggling to keep pace with demand,” he added. “The risk is that the shortage of skilled labour in the sector could impede Britain’s major building projects.”
Maxine Wheldon at construction group Balfour Beatty, said: "The demand for skilled labour within the infrastructure sector is at an unprecedented level and this is forecast to rise with major programmes on the horizon, such as strategic roads investment, HS2, Crossrail 2 and new nuclear projects.”
The major infrastructure projects planned in the UK today has meant that companies have had to recruit from abroad in some cases.
The Home Builders Federation said that recruiting people was the biggest issue the industry has.
“House builders have recruited thousands of apprentices and graduates and are looking to attract people with relevant or transferable skills from the military and other industries,” a spokesman said.
