Meeting the Demand: Attracting and Retaining Talent in UK Highways Delivery

As the UK accelerates investment in highways infrastructure—across both national and local networks—the pressure on delivery teams is mounting. Ambitious programmes such as National Highways’ RIS3, local authority upgrades, and major economic corridors demand a skilled, adaptable workforce. Yet across the sector, workforce bottlenecks are threatening to slow delivery and inflate costs.

Attracting and retaining the right talent is now one of the sector’s defining challenges. To meet the demand, infrastructure clients and their supply chains must embrace new strategies to secure specialist skills and keep projects on track.

Workforce Bottlenecks: The Growing Challenge

While the highways sector has long faced skills shortages in engineering, project management, and site supervision, several emerging trends are intensifying the challenge:

• Competing infrastructure programmes (e.g., rail, energy, housing) are drawing from the same limited talent pool.
• Demand for digital and green skills—to support smarter highways, sustainability targets, and net-zero commitments—is outpacing supply.
• Demographic pressures, with an ageing workforce and fewer young people entering construction-related careers.

Without intervention, these bottlenecks risk pushing critical schemes beyond deadlines or budgets, undermining confidence with stakeholders and the public.

Flexible Hiring Approaches: Thinking Beyond Traditional Models

In response, leading highways clients and delivery partners are adopting more flexible hiring strategies to overcome constraints and access the skills they need. These include:

1. Blended Workforce Models

By combining permanent staff with contract professionals, temporary hires, and specialist consultancies, organisations can flex their delivery teams in line with project peaks. This flexibility reduces overhead risk and improves responsiveness to changing programme demands.

2. Regional Talent Hubs

Some forward-thinking infrastructure organisations are setting up regional talent hubs or partnerships with local training providers, helping to develop and secure local talent pipelines for long-term projects.

3. Targeted Reskilling and Upskilling

Rather than relying solely on external recruitment, many are investing in reskilling existing workers, particularly in digital design, data management, and sustainability-related roles. This approach also boosts staff loyalty and retention.

Attracting Specialist Skills Under Tight Timelines

For infrastructure clients working to ambitious deadlines, it’s not enough to simply have access to skills—they need to attract, mobilise, and retain those skills quickly and efficiently. Successful organisations are adapting by:

• Engaging with the supply chain early in the project lifecycle to map resource requirements.
• Simplifying onboarding processes to reduce administrative delays.
• Strengthening their employer brand, positioning themselves as forward-looking, supportive workplaces that offer career development, not just short-term contracts.
• Offering flexible working arrangements, where possible, to broaden the appeal to a more diverse workforce.

Retention: Turning Short-Term Hires Into Long-Term Assets

Retention is just as critical as attraction. Frequent turnover erodes knowledge, continuity, and morale. Highways clients are increasingly focusing on:

• Career pathways within projects, showing short-term hires how they can transition into long-term roles.
• Mentoring and training programmes to help workers build their skills and remain engaged.
• Clear, consistent communication, especially with dispersed site teams, to foster a sense of belonging and purpose.

Conclusion: Adapting to Succeed

The challenge of attracting and retaining talent in UK highways delivery is not going away. But it is increasingly clear that those organisations willing to adapt through flexible hiring approaches, strategic partnerships, and investment in people will be the ones positioned to succeed in this competitive market.

Ultimately, meeting the demand is not just about filling roles; it’s about building capability, stability, and a workforce ready to deliver the infrastructure Britain needs.