ICE presidential roundtable: what does effective workforce planning for infrastructure look like?

Around the world, governments are grappling with the same question: do they have the workforce, skills and capacity needed to deliver on ambitious infrastructure agendas?

This is not a new issue, but it’s become more urgent as governments commit to achieving net zero emissions, strengthening climate resilience and accelerating digital transformation.

These priorities require a skilled, adaptable workforce capable of delivering infrastructure at scale and speed.

Yet many countries lack a coordinated, long-term workforce plan. Coupled with global competition for skilled professionals, it’s creating bottlenecks that threaten to delay progress, inflate costs, and undermine delivery.

This roundtable was chaired by ICE President Professor Jim Hall and joined by Philip Aldridge, chief executive of Waihanga Ara Rau, New Zealand’s Construction and Infrastructure Workforce Development Council.

Infrastructure experts from around the world explored what the workforce challenges are – and how different governments are tackling them.

The discussion explored the following key points:

• The impact of cyclical demand, poor working conditions and other factors that are causing weak workforce retention rates in many countries.
• Developing clear career pathways, more proactive engagement and rethinking entry requirements to attract more young people and increase diversity in the workforce.
• The opportunities and challenges posed by AI and other disruptive technologies, from new skills requirements, the need to adapt and reskill workers and inverting the traditional knowledge pyramid.
• The importance of generating and harnessing reliable data insights for workforce planning.
• Fostering collaboration and partnerships between government, industry, the education sector and other stakeholders to enable effective workforce planning.