NEW online research from YouGov, commissioned by construction not-for-profit organisation Deconstruction, has revealed a ‘substantial’ rising interest in the sector among the 18-24 age group.
The 2025 Deconstruction report shows that while nearly two thirds of the UK population (64%) would not want to consider a career in the construction sector, the underlying figure revealed that 28% of 18–24-year-olds would be interested in joining the industry – a huge rise from 15% in 2023 Deconstruction research results, and 17% of the same cohort in 2024.
Deconstruction said that with the Office of National Statistics estimating the UK population of this age group is 5.79 million, extrapolating the 28% research figure suggests a potential talent pool of 1.6 million young people ready to be engaged.
In addition, 56% of the UK public would now be likely to recommend a career in the sector to a young person, which is up five percentage points from last year’s research.
This is a welcome potential lifeline for a sector struggling to attract talent, and as the recent Centre for Social Justice Skills to Build report highlights, there has been a fall of 150,000 16–24-year-olds actively working in the industry since 2008, with an urgent need to reverse the trend.
Deconstruction is offering key recommendations on how to approach the opportunity:
- Make sure the wider public has sight of the variety of roles in construction, beyond ‘hard hats and muddy boots’
- Embrace the scale of the challenge facing construction as a simple and powerful story about how young people can make an immediate impact, inspire fresh thinking and bring ingenuity to the industry
- Use the current spotlight on the sector as a limelight to step into and find a single coherent voice
Deconstruction founder Ryan Jones said, “Following recent government pledges for investment into training, from the launch of Skills England to announcements in the budget to offer free apprenticeship training making national headlines, construction is having a moment as a sector that can offer a future of opportunity for younger market entrants.
“This is welcome news for a sector than requires more than 200,000 new workers each year to meet government targets on new housing and retrofitted property, according to the CITB, but this interest has to be captured and entry routes into the sector have to be clearly signposted. The huge amount of money committed to attracting talent must not be squandered.”
The 2025 Deconstruction report highlights the main source of guidance on careers in the construction sector is driven by online search engines, with 36% of the public naming this as their primary source for advice and information, ahead of traditional sources such as career advisors (13%), recruitment consultants (6%), or trade bodies (9%).
Jones added, “With online search engines proving dominant source of information, this offers construction another golden opportunity – the chance for one single clear compelling recruitment campaign, that can capture the imagination of the wider public, like successful initiatives such as This Girl Can. With investment in training coming in, a growing number of young people seeking out work in the sector, and a rising number of people willing to recommend construction as a career path, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel – we just need to collaborate to be effective.”
To read the full 2025 Deconstruction report visit: www.thisisdeconstruction.com
