10.03.2026
More than £700bn in infrastructure investment is planned across the UK over the next decade. But industry leaders say workforce capacity will be critical to delivering it.
The UK government has released the latest update to its 10-year Infrastructure Pipeline Strategy, outlining £718bn of planned investment across transport, energy, water and public infrastructure projects.
The expanded pipeline includes 734 programmes and projects spanning both public and private sector investment.
But alongside the scale of the investment comes a clear warning for industry: delivering the pipeline will require a significant increase in skilled labour across construction, engineering and technical professions.
Workforce demand expected to surge
For the first time, the latest pipeline update includes detailed projections of future workforce demand.
The figures indicate that the UK will require between 629,000 and 706,000 infrastructure and construction workers annually over the next five years to meet delivery timelines.
Construction roles account for more than two-thirds of this demand, reflecting the scale of building activity expected across transport networks, utilities, housing and public infrastructure.
Energy programmes represent the largest share of capital investment over the next decade, with major developments planned across nuclear, grid infrastructure, power generation and renewable energy.
Regional demand is also expected to be concentrated in key areas.
Pipeline designed to give industry greater visibility
The infrastructure pipeline is managed by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) and updated every six months to give investors and industry clearer visibility of upcoming programmes.
By incorporating workforce projections, the government aims to help contractors, developers and suppliers better plan recruitment, training and skills development.
Becky Wood, CEO of NISTA, said the additional data is designed to help industry plan with greater certainty:
“Transforming UK infrastructure needs a three-way collaboration between government, investors, and industry to succeed. The Infrastructure Pipeline is the foundation on which this relationship thrives, and this update now gives investors more granular information about forthcoming investable opportunities they told us they need for their strategic planning.
Our industry partners across the sector can only invest in new skills, capacity and technology with the right data to assess what the Pipeline means in the delivery context. By adding new information on what future workforce demand looks like they can plan with confidence, and the Pipeline is also better placed to support the investment government is already making to address the construction skills gap.”
Skills gap remains a key delivery risk
Industry bodies have long warned that skills shortages across engineering, construction and technical roles could threaten delivery timelines for major infrastructure programmes.
Large-scale projects across transport, energy and utilities often require highly specialised expertise across the entire project lifecycle, from design and planning through to construction, commissioning and long-term operations.
Without sufficient workforce capacity, project owners face increased risks around programme delays, cost escalation and supply chain bottlenecks.
The updated pipeline therefore provides an important signal to the sector: workforce planning must now sit alongside funding and policy as a core element of infrastructure delivery.
Delivering the infrastructure of the future
With hundreds of projects now mapped out across the next decade, the focus for industry is shifting from pipeline visibility to delivery capability.
Infrastructure programmes on this scale require large numbers of engineering, technical and project specialists working across complex and regulated environments.
Organisations responsible for delivering these programmes will increasingly need to secure reliable access to skilled labour and build sustainable talent pipelines that can support long-term delivery.
As the UK moves into what could be one of the most active periods of infrastructure development in decades, the success of the pipeline will depend not only on investment, but on the people who will ultimately deliver it.
The Morson solution: Supporting infrastructure delivery
At Morson, we support infrastructure and energy programmes by supplying specialist engineering, technical and professional talent across complex projects and regulated environments.
With more than five decades of experience supporting major capital programmes, we work with owners, operators and contractors to stabilise workforce supply and provide the specialist skills needed to deliver large-scale infrastructure.
Roles supported range from civil and design engineers to project managers, planners and utilities specialists, helping organisations scale delivery capability as programmes move from planning to construction.
As infrastructure investment accelerates, ensuring the right talent is in place will remain a defining factor in whether projects move from pipeline to reality.
We make that possible. From partnering with UK Power Networks to National Grid and leading renewable operators. By closing the green skills gap, we deliver the talent and project resourcing giving you greater certainty on the infrastructure projects.
Find out more here or read our Infrastructure Sector Report 2026.
