Husbands: We need skilled construction workers

Barbados is continuing to face a major shortage of skilled construction workers as demand grows across both the tourism and housing sectors.

Speaking during Wednesday’s launch of the sixth annual World Skills Barbados Junior Future Skills Camp at the TVET Council in Hastings, Christ Church, Minister of Technological and Vocational Training, Sandra Husbands said the country urgently needed thousands more trained workers equipped with modern construction skills.

Husbands explained that the challenge was not only a lack of workers, but also the need to modernise the skills of those already in the industry.

“In Barbados we have a severe shortage of artisans in terms of the modern skills that are used in construction,” she said, noting that there were shortages of masons, electricians, plumbers and carpenters.

“We need to upgrade our construction skills, for example, using more modern construction methods, green building and photovoltaic installation, smart building technologies, digital construction, project management and site supervision.” 

According to Husbands, the Future Skills Camp is intended to expose young people to career opportunities in construction and other sectors, while helping them develop practical, job-ready skills at an early stage.

“The Future Skills Camp directly addresses the challenge by providing young people with early meaningful exposure to real world skills and career pathways,” she stated.

“What it does, it allows a young person to very quickly acquire some very basic skills that they can make entrance into the construction sector.”.

Husbands pointed to the success of government’s Construction Gateway Programme which was first launched in 2022 to upskill the population, train artisans and ensure new male and female workers are available for various construction industry positions.

She revealed that programme had already seen the skills of approximately 3000 young people upgraded.

However, she stressed that the demand for labour remained far greater than the current supply of trained workers.

“Now what is happening in Barbados, we actually need something like 4500 construction workers. Our contractors are calling constantly for staff, but they want skilled staff. They don’t need people who just come to do day labour work. What they want are specific construction skills,” Husbands said.

She added that the aim was not only to help young people secure immediate employment, but also to encourage them to pursue advanced technical training and long-term careers in the industry.

The minister also underscored the scale of upcoming construction activity across the island, revealing that a number of hotels are expected to be built in Barbados in addition to government’s housing programme.

“There are some nine hotels that are to be constructed in Barbados, and that is nothing to do with the thousands of homes that the Barbados government is seeking to build, so the shortage is real,” she said.

Despite the challenges, Husbands noted that interest among young people in construction-related training programmes remained encouragingly high.

(SB)