Construction has played a key role in the advancement of civilisation. Medicine would not have advanced as far without hospitals, world trade would not have developed without transport infrastructures and people would not have been able to thrive around urban centres without transport networks and water treatment plants. This is, without doubt, an essential activity for economic and social development. In Spain, it employs around 1.2 million people.and has one of the highest ratios per euro invested, both in terms of economic activity generated and jobs created.
A number of challenges have been increasing the risks faced by the industry in recent years: the increase in the size and complexity of projects, internationalisation of companies, national budgetary constraints, demands for more sustainable infrastructure, sophistication of clients and contracts, and competition from other sectors, such as new technologies, for scarce technical talent.
The difficulty in overcoming these challenges has meant that, in recent months, leading companies in the sector, in Spain and worldwide, have announced major restructuring plans, including bankruptcies.. To meet these challenges, the sector needs to undergo a profound transformation.
This week, The Future of Construction, a joint study by the World Economic Forum and The Boston Consulting Group, was presented at the Davos Forum. with the active participation of leading companies in the sector and other key players such as governments, universities and industry associations.
This study emphasises the urgent need to the need to implement effective innovation models that facilitate the introduction of new methods, processes and technologies.
In this sense, a series of companies in the sector have been identified that have already stood out for their capacity to innovate, as well as start-ups that are breaking through with new technologies and business models. The work also proposes different measures to close the gap between supply and demand for jobs, The European Commission's work in the field of human resource planning has been a key element in the development of the industry's future, including access to new sources of talent, the implementation of innovative human resource planning techniques, and campaigns to promote the attractiveness of careers in the industry.
On the other hand, it is also necessary to redefining procurement models for works contracts in a way that appropriately spreads the risks currently borne by the different parties, encourages innovation and sustainability, and takes into account the full lifetime cost of the assets.
This major transformation requires more dialogue and collaboration between the different actors in the construction sector, including public and private clients, financial institutions, engineering firms, construction companies, trade unions, universities and regulators. Industry associations should encourage this dialogue for the benefit of all parties. And large companies are called upon to bring order to an excessively fragmented sector, as has happened in other cases, such as in the automotive sector.
A profound transformation, duly coordinated with all actors, will allow us to continue to have the construction sector that society needs to continue its economic and social development.
Santiago Castagnino
Partner & Managing Director, Global Head of the Engineering and Construction Sector at The Boston Consulting Group