CITB has published Local Skills – 2026 update: Scotland, the third Local Skills for Scotland report produced by CITB working with Whole Life Consultants Ltd.
The report compares construction labour demand for 2026–2030 with where workers are based across six areas of Scotland. Its authors are Ian Hill and Ian Hughes (CITB) and Doug Forbes and Jack Southgate (WLC Ltd).
It finds that Scotland as a whole should have enough construction workers to meet demand between 2026 and 2030. Average demand is 196,550 workers a year, compared with a 2025 workforce of 196,510. However, workers are not spread evenly across the country:
- East Central Scotland has the largest shortfall, with 48,580 workers needed compared with 34,380 based locally.
- West Central Scotland also has a shortfall: 60,770 needed compared with 50,420 based locally.
- The other four areas have more local workers than estimated demand. The report cautions against assuming that those workers can easily move to where they are needed.
Highlands and Islands scenario
The report also models the planned £100bn investment in renewable energy generation, transmission and distribution in the Highlands and Islands, as set out in Workforce North. If that work goes ahead, demand for construction workers in the area could more than double, from 17,780 to 41,180. That would raise demand across Scotland by around 12%.