The document summarizes a study on the shortage of skilled labor in the Sri Lankan construction industry. It finds that the main causes of shortage are inadequate training programs, workers seeking higher wages abroad, and lack of skills in the existing workforce. The top effects are delayed projects, poor quality work, and lower productivity. Surveys of professionals and laborers reveal that improving training, increasing wages, and developing career opportunities could help address the shortage. The study concludes that action is needed to strengthen training institutions and incentivize workers to remain in the local industry long-term.

1. Shortage of Skilled Labour in Construction Industry of Sri Lanka
Basnayake.L.K, Premathilake.R.P.M.M, Dr.Dissanayake.P.B.G.
Keywords: skilled labour, shortage, construction industry, Sri Lanka
1. Introduction
1.1 General Background
Construction industry is the fourth highest
sector in Sri Lankan economy. But according to
past researches there are challenges to
overcome with the construction industry of Sri
Lanka. The construction industry is heavily
dependent on the adequate supply of a skilled
labour force, and as a result the skilled Labour
shortage in the Sri Lanka has received
considerable attention in recent years.
1.2 Objectives
 To investigate extent of the skill labour
shortage in Sri Lanka.
 To investigate causes for the shortage
of skilled labour in construction
industry of Sri Lanka.
 To find out the consequent effects due
to the shortage of skilled labour.
 To propose suitable mitigation methods
to overcome the shortage of skilled
labour.
2. Literature Review
Several studies have been done in Sri Lanka on
“Shortage of Skilled Labour in Construction
Industry of Sri Lanka”. Praveen et al conducted
a research on “Understanding and Mitigating
the Effects of Shortage of Skilled Labour in the
Construction Industry of Sri Lanka”. According
to them the most significant causal factor for
skilled labour shortage is “inadequate number
of trained personnel” and resulting effect is
“time over-run” of construction projects. This
study also revealed that “Increasing the wages”
as the most important mitigation measure to
overcome this problem.
McKenzie et al. reveals that the construction
industry is heavily dependent on the adequate
supply of a skilled labour force. The perception
of the construction industry to the skills
shortage response strategies identified was
investigated through a one-page postal
questionnaire survey sent to 130 construction
organizations. Finally it concludes that “For
long term training plans to be successful the
industry must ensure that there is an adequate
supply of people entering and encouraged to
remain in the industry.”
3. Methodology
3.1 Survey Method –Questionnaire
Survey
Two types of questionnaires were prepared.
First one was targeting administrative and
professional level. This questionnaire was filled
by them. 150 questionnaires were sent by email,
post, and by hand distribution and through face
to face interviews. A pilot survey was
conducted before sending the final
questionnaire targeting 10 key persons from
the industry in order to get their feedback
to fine tune the questionnaire. Both the
snowball sampling and the random sampling
methods were adopted in selecting the sample
size. For the questionnaire survey the contact
details were obtained from the IESL, Institution
of Architects and Institution of Quantity
Surveyors etc.
The other questionnaire was prepared for
targeting the laborers. This questionnaire was
filled by us in most cases after conducting face
to face interviews with the skilled laborers. This
survey sample comprised with 55 no. of skilled
laborers. In order to obtain a high response rate
confidentiality was kept at its maximum and
was avoided asking for personal details.
3.2 Analytical Method
Frequency Index was used to determine the
frequency of occurrence of a certain event.
Severity Index was used to rank the factors
according to the severity. Relative Important
index was used to rank the factors in ascending
order. Spearman Rank Correlation was used to
determine whether there is any correlation
between two factors. SPSS and Microsoft Excel
were used to find correlations among certain
factors.
4. Results and Discussion
Engineer
QS
TO
Archetectemployment
Client
Consultant
Contractor
catogory type

2. Fig.01: Distribution of respondents
Table 01. Results from the Professional Level
Questionnaire
Type of
index
Analyzed factor
Obtained
value
Reasons
Relative
Important
index
Inadequate supply
from training
institutes
60.05
Seeking foreign
employments
57.96
Inadequacy skills in
the available labour
force
57.66
Effects
Relative
Important
index
Delay in project
duration
64.92
Poor Quality of work 58.43
Less labour
productivity
56.83
Mitigation
Important
index
Arranging
seminar/training
programs through
ICTAD/IESL
95.38
Creating a healthy
and safe working
environment
91.54
Provide a proper
certificate of service
89.23
Table 02. Spearman's Rank of Correlation
among involved parties
Type Correlation Coefficient
Causes Effects Mitigation
Measures
Client vs consultant 0.65 0.25 0.59
Client vs contractor 0.82 0.18 0.45
Consultant vs
contractor
0.67 0.51 0.31
Engineer vs Architect 0.87 0.62 0.79
Engineer vs QS 0.68 0.03 0.74
Engineer vs TO 0.54 0.18 0.55
Architect vs QS 0.85 0.41 0.80
Architect vs TO 0.73 0.30 0.53
QS vs TO 0.61 0.54 0.36
Fig. 02. Distribution of Labour Sample
Table 03. Results from the Labour feedback
survey
Item Percentage
Gender Male 100%
Age Above 35 Yrs. 58%
Work
Experience
0-5 Years 30%
5-10 Years 42%
More Than 10 Yrs. 28%
Satisfaction
Salary 42%
Job 80%
No Of Leaves 100%
Work Load 92%
Training
Trained Before 42%
Need Further
Training
48%
Wish To Work In Abroad 54%
Wish To Continue The Same
Occupation
74%
5. Conclusions
According to the analysis, the lack of supply of
training institutes is the main reason for the
shortage of skilled labour in construction
industry of Sri Lanka. Apart from that the lack
of skills in the current workforce and skill drain
towards foreign countries expecting higher
salaries could be identified as casual factors.
Due to the shortage of skilled labour, poor
quality of works could be identified as the most
severe effect. Other than that delay in
construction and less labour productivity are
identified as the adverse effects of shortage.
According to the labour feedback survey seven
critical issues, namely (i) Low wage relative to
other countries (ii) Inadequate training (iii)
skills drain (iv) less work experience (v) carrier
shifting (vi) negative social attitude towards the
skilled labors and (vii) wastage of female skills
without contributing to the economy are
influenced for the shortage of skilled Labour in
construction industry of Sri Lanka.
References
1. Jayawardana.A.K.W. and Gunawardana. N.D.
“Labour market issues of Managerial and
Supervisory personnel in the construction
industry” -A case study in Sri Lanka. Annual
Transaction of IESL 2003:24-31
2. MacKenzie.S , Kilpatrick. A. R. & Akintoye. A
“UK construction skills shortage response
strategies and an analysis of industry
perceptions”
3. Praveen.R, Niththiyananthan.T, Kanarajan.S
“Understanding and Mitigating the Effects of
Shortage of Skilled Labour in the Construction
Industry of Sri Lanka” Annual Transaction of
IESL 2011: 239-247
Pvt.
Govt.
Semi Govt.
company type
C1
C2
C3
Others
ICTAD grade
Heavy Equipment Operators
Masons
Carpenter
Bar Bender
Rigger
Electrician
Signalman
Plumbers