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By 2040, it is forecast that there will be only 15,500 carpenters and fitters, down from 263,000, and the number of labourers will plummet from 127,000 to 7,500.
However, although new technology will see jobs disappear, it will create opportunities for new roles such as programmers for robotic builders. Training will be needed so workers are equipped with new skills for future jobs.
The predictions echo a recent report from UK infrastructure company Balfour Beatty which also predicted construction sites could be virtually human-free by 2050. Balfour Beatty envisages autonomous diggers and cranes, self-assembling build- ings and eets of drones surveying work.
Similar warnings were made in a UK Government review, Modernise or die,
looking at the future of the construction industry. The author, Mark Farmer, Chief Executive of construction consultancy Cast, said ‘technology will bring a step-change to the construction sector, which has remained artisan based for decades.
‘Whether it’s one in three or one in four jobs that go remains to be seen, but technology will see a massive overhaul of numbers in the industry. Construction has to increase productivity, and change might be forced on it in the form of automation, manufacturing process and arti cial intel- ligence to achieve it.’
What does Industry 4.0 mean for the sector?
Industry 4.0 is the collective term for a range of technologies that will have an impact on
many sectors. This new industrial revolution includes things such as cloud computing, the internet of things, arti cial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and robotics.
The Mace report warns that, without a major effort to reskill workforces and attract a new generation of more tech-savvy workers, the construction industry will lose out on the potential productivity bene ts of this change.
The sector has long suffered from a productivity gap where it has failed to match the productivity gains seen in other indus- tries. If it successfully moves to Industry 4.0, it may nally begin to match some of the gains made elsewhere.
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