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The Brazilian construction industry faces a significant shortage of skilled labor, resulting from educational and generational changes. To overcome this challenge, companies are investing in the industrialization of processes, the internalization of services and the technological training of workers, aiming to maintain the efficiency and sustainability of the sector in the face of changes in the labor market.
The Brazilian construction industry is facing an alarming scenario. While the country is experiencing a period of economic recovery, a major challenge is beginning to emerge in construction sites: the lack of qualified labor.
The shortage of professionals is threatening the pace of several construction projects, increasing project costs and creating a real problem for businesspeople in the sector.
And the situation is not simple. As the market evolves, the workforce profile is changing and, as a result, the construction sector finds itself facing an urgent need to reinvent itself.
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What is being done to overcome this challenge? What does the future hold for the workforce in the sector? These questions are at the heart of the debate.
While statistics show a significant increase in the number of Brazilians with higher education, this reality also reflects a change in the profile of workers seeking qualifications.
In a country where most people were used to working in the construction In operational roles, the scenario is now different: children of construction foremen become engineers and many of these new professionals do not have the same appetite for working on construction sites.
But what is driving this change? How are companies responding to keep their operations running?
Educational transformation and its impact on the job market
With the growth of higher education in Brazil, the country has found itself facing an interesting phenomenon. According to data from the IBGE, in 2023, 23,2 million Brazilians had a higher education degree, which represents around 23% of the country's workforce – a record number.
This change not only reflects the increase in the population's education level, but also the change in mentality regarding operational professions.
Today, the “son of a construction foreman” prefers to pursue a career in an office, with an engineering degree, rather than embarking on construction work, where his father often spent a lifetime of hard work.
This is what Ubirajara Freitas, CEO of Tegra Incorporadora, stated at a UBS BB event this Wednesday (29), as published in the Jornal de Brasília. “Today, the foreman’s son is an engineer and he doesn’t want to go to the construction site, so we are industrializing the process,” said Ubirajara Freitas, CEO of Tegra Incorporadora, at a UBS BB event this Wednesday (29).
This change in values and professional aspirations is a reflection of a country that is gradually becoming more educated and less dependent on manual labor.
However, this transition creates an obvious problem for the construction sector, which until now has depended on a large number of qualified workers, especially in operational roles such as bricklayers, carpenters and laborers.
With young people moving away from these jobs, the shortage of qualified professionals has intensified and construction companies are looking for alternatives to fill this gap.
Measures taken by construction companies to address the shortage of professionals
The strategies adopted by construction companies are diversifying, seeking solutions in both the short and long term.
According to Ubirajara Freitas, CEO of Tegra Incorporadora, one of the main answers to this problem is the industrialization of construction processes.
According to him, with the advancement of technology and the implementation of prefabrication systems, the need for labor on the construction site has been significantly reduced.
In other words, construction companies are turning to factories producing ready-made components, which arrive at the construction site ready to be assembled.
This allows manual work, which is normally more time-consuming and dependent on a large number of workers, to be replaced by more automated processes.
Furthermore, another strategy adopted by some construction companies is to internalize service providers.
Traditionally, many of these companies resorted to outsourcing to hire temporary workers, but with the shortage of professionals, this practice has proven ineffective.
As a result, many companies began to hire their employees directly, providing more stability and loyalty, as well as allowing greater control over the quality of the workforce.
Tegra Incorporadora, for example, has been actively working to integrate its workers by providing technologies such as smartphones and tablets, facilitating communication and streamlining processes within construction sites.
The impact of inflation and interest rates on the construction market
With a shortage of skilled workers, construction companies are not only facing rising labor-related costs, but also the consequences of inflation in the sector's products.
Despite the pressure on material prices, both Ubirajara Freitas and Ricardo Valadares Gontijo, CEO of Direcional (a construction company focused on Minha Casa Minha Vida), guarantee that inflation is being controlled and does not represent an immediate threat.
On the other hand, what really worries the two CEOs is the slowdown in the economy and the rise in interest rates.
According to Freitas, an ideal scenario would be an interest rate of 7% or 8%, something that is currently not being achieved.
The Brazilian economy, with inflation around 6%, is far from ideal, but businesspeople in the sector say they are prepared to deal with this reality and seek solutions that guarantee continued growth.
The future of construction: how construction companies are adapting
In times of resource scarcity, one of the alternatives to guarantee the success of works is to invest in professional qualification.
Both Freitas and Gontijo point out the importance of ongoing training for workers, since it is impossible to rely exclusively on a labor market that constantly lacks qualified labor.
Therefore, training initiatives have been a priority.
In the case of Direcional, for example, many of its own workers are part of the target audience of the Minha Casa Minha Vida program, which reinforces the importance of investing in professional qualification.
Construction companies are also keeping an eye on changes in worker behavior and the need for technologies that can make work on the construction site easier.
From the use of management applications to remote monitoring of works, innovation is becoming an essential tool for the sector.
The integration of new generations with technology can be the determining factor in dealing with the lack of professionals, especially in the digital era in which we live, with the increase in automation and artificial intelligence.
Civil construction is still a driving force of the economy
Although the lack of qualified professionals is a growing challenge, the construction sector in Brazil continues to be one of the main drivers of the economy.
Construction companies are adapting, reinventing themselves and investing in innovative solutions to ensure the sector continues to grow.
However, the path forward will not be easy and will require a joint effort between companies, workers and the government to ensure that construction does not come to a standstill and that Brazil continues to grow economically. What is at stake is not only the job market, but also the future of Brazilian cities.
Do you think the future of construction in Brazil is at risk due to the lack of qualified labor? Leave your opinion in the comments!
The problem is that there are too many CEOs and managers in construction companies, they should stop whining and get their hands dirty.
The salaries offered, the demands and pressures suffered, the lack of wisdom of certain leaders, the exploitation of direct labor (without any kind of incentive), the need for workers to practice “sycophancy” – all of this is what is driving young people away from construction. Companies prefer a person who is a sycophant and betrays his co-worker at all times, rather than a professional who delivers excellent services, because leaders are poorly trained, poorly educated, do not know how to lead and only occupy the position because they are friends with someone who has a relevant position in the company.
But I never saw anything about the pay, which is very low. We were never valued. That's why the workforce is running out, because young people saw their parents working, giving their days to the company and a paltry salary.