By Will Ashton, Graduate Programme Lead and Associate, at Rund.

The construction industry continues to face a talent shortage, which is being exacerbated by an ageing workforce. Showing the scale of the challenge, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) Skills Network 2024-8 report predicts that the UK construction industry will require 251,500 extra construction workers by 2028 to meet growing demand. Alongside this more people are leaving the industry than joining. According to the CITB Workforce Skills and Mobility in the Construction Sector 2022 report, the UK construction workforce is comprised those aged 25 to 44 (50%) and those aged 45 to 59 (25%), while there is just 19% aged under 25.

There’s no doubt that the construction sector must be more vocal and committed to investing in the nurturing and development of new talent, which is where the advantages of a well-structured graduate scheme can help.

A commitment to talent development

As a graduate who first joined the industry in 2019, I know firsthand the benefits of a graduate programme. As well as offering the important first steps to a career in construction, these opportunities provide the foundations to a strong career. In fact, two of Rund’s senior leadership team members joined the company as graduates, underscoring the potential for growth and progression within organisations when taking this route.

Last year, Rund welcomed three graduates in London, one in Bristol and two in Southampton. We have built our success on offering real responsibility and career progression. Balancing the need to give graduates meaningful experience with the challenge of ensuring they are adequately supported is key. We do this by prioritising a programme with regular touchpoints for timely feedback. Graduates need to feel heard and supported, and their development should be closely aligned with their career aspirations. It is vital that we build up graduates’ confidence with regular one-on-one meetings, in-house training and personalised development plans to ensure they are on track.

No one size fits all and it can feel like a steep learning curve as graduates must quickly absorb industry language and concepts and navigate the workplace often for the first time. However, it is well worth the investment to help graduates play a real part on projects and allow them to take ownership once they are ready. Through this approach many of our graduates, within just a year, are already leading day-to-day activities on construction projects at Rund.

Challenges and Opportunities in Attracting Talent

While Rund’s graduate programme has been met with enthusiasm, getting a diverse mix of applicants has been an ongoing journey of outreach and promotion. The construction industry is predominantly male, and we know that promoting inclusivity through our recruitment policies to encourage a more diverse pool of candidates will result in more much needed talent, and add to our teams with valuable different perspectives and experiences.

Through outreach at universities, including close relationships with institutions like Warwick Business School, Rund is helping to raise awareness of career opportunities in construction. We are also proud to advocate for women in construction as part of initiatives like our internal Women’s Networking Group. At Rund, this brings together female employees across all our offices to attend meetings, seminars, and events. The group’s purpose is to provide a space for women to receive specialist career support and guidance, while signposting networking events for female staff to attend throughout the year.

As a business, we understand that our future success is built on creating opportunities at all levels and that young professionals are integral to our success. This is why we proudly offer graduates a broad range of experiences via different options. These options include a defined pathway for success in the built environment as a Graduate Surveyor, complete with support for RICS accredited master’s degrees and the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC), through to one year placements and even shorter 2-4 week work experiences. We believe this flexibility helps open more doors for those considering a career in construction and that we hope to see more of across our industry.

By offering a combination of structured learning, real-world experience, and personalised mentorship, we can all help shape skilled professionals who are ready to drive forward new ideas, uphold industry standards, and contribute meaningfully to meet demands of tomorrow’s built environment.

For more information about the Graduate Programme at Rund visit www.rund.co.uk/people/graduate-careers