The ECITB's labour market intelligence work was shortlisted in the Collaboration category at the awards ceremony held at the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square. The industry-led skills body was recognised alongside other key industry players, and was also featured in the EIC’s annual Survive & Thrive insight report for 2026.
The LFT, developed in collaboration with Whole Life Consultants and a technical reference group of industry stakeholders, helps the engineering construction industry (ECI) plan for future workforce needs, address skills challenges, and prepare for anticipated growth. It provides insights into workforce numbers, predicts trends, and forecasts potential future demand across sectors including oil and gas, nuclear, power generation, renewables, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and chemicals.
The tool, first launched in 2023 and significantly updated in 2025 using data from the ECITB Workforce Census, addresses a long-standing lack of reliable workforce data in the ECI. This has historically limited confident hiring decisions and targeted training.
“"At a time when industry is expected to need thousands of additional workers to meet demand on major engineering construction projects, it is vital that decisions made by governments, asset owners, contractors and other industry partners to tackle these challenges are informed by evidence. This is where the value of rich sources of data becomes crucial and why the first-of-its-kind Labour Forecasting Tool for the ECI has been of massive benefit for industry. This innovative solution to help industry track supply and demand has provided critical insights into the make-up and future direction of industry and allowed for evidence-based, targeted initiatives and interventions to tackle looming skills shortages."
Updated forecasts from May 2025 indicate that the ECI could require 40,000 additional workers by 2030, with peak demand now shifted to that year due to project delays and potential retirements. The LFT predicts the overall ECI workforce could exceed 135,000 workers by 2030. Roles in highest demand include mechanical fitters, electrical technicians, process engineers, project managers, pipefitters, welders, and design technicians.
The LFT and Workforce Census have informed strategies to address skills shortages and ensure project needs are understood, contributing to reports on the national infrastructure and construction pipeline, sectoral and regional skills gaps, and the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.
Pictured at the 2026 WESCA EIC Awards in London were (left to right): Mark Riley, Project Controls Lead at Phillips 66 Limited; ECITB Director of Strategy and Policy David Nash; ECITB Head of Research, Insights and Evaluation Franziska von Blumenthal; Mark Rouse, Director for the Nuclear Skills Plan; and Doug Forbes, Director at Whole Life Consultants Limited.
