Labor shortages are not a new problem for the construction industry, but they are getting worse. According to the proprietary model used by Associated Builders and Contractors, the industry still needs 439,000 additional workers in 2025 just to keep up with the projected demand for construction projects, and those numbers will keep rising in 2026 to 499,000 new workers.
The McKinsey Global Institute rates construction as the second least digitized industry in the world. This statistic reveals how the labor shortage is exacerbated by a lack of labor-saving technology—or rather the lack of adoption of it.
Technologies like building information modeling offer a clear route to streamlining a range of construction processes, boosting productivity for projects of all scopes and sizes. But this has created another challenge itself, as implementing the BIM concept requires a skilled workforce. In fact, without workers with the appropriate skills, BIM could make the labor shortage even worse, rather than be a tool to remedy it.
Reasons Behind the Workforce Shortages in BIM and VDC
This can be seen in research into the industry by Business Research, which shows the market for BIM has seen rapid growth since its introduction, and is predicted to reach $8.59 billion in 2025, a 16.3% compound annual growth rate increase from the 2024 level of $7.39 billion. With that growth comes a need for more skilled workers to maintain capacity, leaving companies struggling to find suitable candidates with BIM training and experience. That has generated a rapidly increasing demand for skilled workers in the field, with many companies unable to find the right candidates with BIM training and experience.
However, while high demand is a symptom of the shortages of BIM workers, the reason that there are not enough trained virtual design and construction and BIM staff is the real issue. This is driven by two main factors, which must be understood before effective solutions can be found.
Inadequate Educational Resources
With BIM and VDC being relatively new concepts, opportunities to learn the necessary skills remain in short supply. This issue, with a shortage of capacity for learning the skills needed, is at the heart of the lack of suitably trained candidates. A slow rollout of courses focused on BIM skills and providing the relevant training required is the main issue, as educators struggle to find suitably qualified instructors and put together appropriate curriculums that deliver the required knowledge.
Limited Experience of BIM/VDC
That last issue is one of the most important: There just aren’t that many people with experience in BIM and VDC applications yet, because it is a relatively new concept. This industry is experiencing a catch twenty-two, as it needs more people experienced in BIM to train the people who will expand the adoption of BIM, but until BIM is more widely adopted, there are not enough people with experience in these technologies to train new teams.
With constant high demand for those with experience in BIM across the industry, finding educators with practical and academic experience in BIM technologies is even more challenging. So, what can be done to solve these challenges?
Our Experience in Delivering BIM Skills
The fastest and most effective strategy for overcoming this challenge is for BIM companies to develop in-house training programs. BIM specialists coming from newly developed college courses, online training programs, certification solutions and industry webinar sessions may have a level of technical knowledge but often lack the real-world BIM experience required. As such, on-the-job training is an essential component in recruitment to bridge that skill gap.
This is delivered in several ways, including:
- An in-house knowledge base for BIM and VDC accessible by all workers
- Guides, checklists and case studies to provide an intuitive learning tool
- Mentoring programs to pair experienced specialists with recruits offering real-world guidance from day one
- Internally developed training materials, which are updated in real-time as projects progress and new ideas and approaches are refined
- Online and offline access to the latest learning materials for every worker, so that they have resources readily available if they need retraining to work on BIM and VDC projects
General Trends for BIM Skill Training
Many businesses are looking for in-house options to address the BIM skill shortages. For some, this comes in the form of “mini academies,” where students are provided with foundational knowledge and practical skills but are not part of a degree or certification program. The goal is to get people out into the workforce quickly with a good grounding in the required skills to be effective within the BIM workflow.
For BIM specifically, but also general workforce shortages throughout the industry, it is clear that a structured approach to training is essential. By implementing such training schemes for BIM, employee turnover is reduced, training quality is standardized and the ability to adopt the newer technology is accelerated.
It is clear that BIM and VDC adoption is being held back by a lack of knowledge and skills within the workforce. To address this, internal education platforms that leverage specialist experience are a key solution, providing fast, effective and accessible education for all employees. This could be in the form of an online platform or offline development program, or even better, combining the two to deliver a holistic training approach that immerses workers in BIM knowledge.
There are additional benefits to taking this approach beyond acquiring essential skills within your teams. By overtly investing in worker education, employees feel valued, increasing loyalty to your business and reducing staff turnover. With recruitment costs continuing to rise, that adds even more savings to your business. It also enhances your reputation as an employer, helping to attract new talent, while also providing a simplified onboarding solution that provides the necessary skills in a proven, accessible way.
SEE ALSO: NEW FRONTIERS IN BIM: ADDRESSING THE GENERATIONAL DIVIDE AND TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE
