1. SHORTAGE OF SKILLED LABOUR
IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OF
SRI LANKA
BASNAYAKE L.K. (E/10/057)
PREMATHILAKA R.P.M.M. (E/10/264)
SUPERVISED BY: DR. P.B.G. DISSANAYAKE

2.  Investigate the causes for the shortage of skilled labour in
construction industry of Sri Lanka.
 To investigate the extend of shortage of skilled labour in Sri
Lanka.
 Find out the consequent effects due to the shortage of Skilled
Labour.
 Propose suitable mitigation methods to overcome the
shortage of skilled labour.
OBJECTIVES

3. SCOPE
 The Scope of this Research is the construction of buildings,
roads and irrigation projects in Sri Lanka
 It is expected to carry out the research among the Skilled
Labour categories of Bar benders, Masons, Riggers,
Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers, Equipment Operators,
Welders, Concrete Finishers etc.
 Client, Consultant, Contractor parties are considered.
 Government, Semi Government and Private sectors are
considered.

4. METHODOLOGY
 Two questionnaire surveys are currently being conducted
(Questionnaire.pdf)
 Targeting the Engineer and Managerial level which is
expected to be filled by themselves (Questionnaire 1)
 Targeting the laboures which will be filled by our self after
having face to face interviews with them.
 Pilot Survey was conducted to fine tune the questionnaires.
 Questionnaires were send through post, email and distributed
by hand to hand

5. COLLECTION OF CONTACT
DETAILS
 Directories
 Company Websites
 Industrial Training and Career Guidance Unit
 Websites of Professional bodies like IESL, ICA
 NAITA
 Training sites of batch mates.
 Current work places of previous undergraduates

6. PILOT SURVEY
 A Pilot Survey was conducted among 8 professional engineers
in the industry to fine tune the questionnaire
 5 responds were obtained
 Content and the structure of the questionnaire was satisfactory
according to the Pilot Survey
 Most of the feedbacks were regarding how to conduct the
questionnaire and how to interpret the analyzed data.

7. QUESTIONNAIRE 1

8.  This questionnaire targets four employment categories namely
Engineer, QS, Architect, TO
 Consists of four main sub section
I. Background Information
II. Identification Casual Factors
III.Identification of Effects
IV.Identification of Mitigation Measures
 150 questionnaires were sent and 71 responds were obtained with a
respond percentage of 48% which is above the avg. percentage
respond rate of 44%

9. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF RESPONDENTS
InvolvementType
no. percent. no. Percent. no. Percent. No. Percent.
Engineer 48 67.61 Client 13 18.31 Pvt. 29 40.85 C1 26 36.62
QS 8 11.27 Consultant 28 39.44 Govt. 18 25.35 C2 4 5.63
TO 11 15.49 Contractor 30 42.25 Semi Govt. 24 33.80 C3 8 11.27
Archetect 4 5.63 Others 33 46.48
Employmenttype Category ICTADGrade

10. Client 13
Consultant 28
Contractor 30
Client
Consultant
Contractor
Engineer 48
QS 8
TO 11
Architect 4
Engineer
QS
TO
Archetect
Pvt 29
Govt. 18
Semi Govt. 24
Pvt.
Govt.
Semi Govt.
C1 26
C2 4
C3 8
Others 33
C1
C2
C3
Others

11. ANALYSIS
 Frequency Index, Severity Index and Importance Index were
be used to rank the causes, effects and countermeasures.
 Collected data were analyzed and processed manually as well
as using a spreadsheet (Data Sheet.xlsx)
 Respondents between different categories will be compared
using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient method.
 The software package SBSS can be used to carry out the
calculations.

12. CASUAL FACTORS
1 Inadequate supply of skilled labour from training institues 78.46 1 76.54 1 60.05 1
2 Inadequacy of skills in the available labour force 78.08 2.5 73.85 3 57.66 3
3 People's unwillingness to engage in construction industry
as labourers 66.92 5 61.92 6 41.44 6
4 Management policy of the organisations (Can manage with
lesser no. of skilled labours and a higher no.killed labour) 60.38 7 60.38 7 36.46 7
5 After training shifting their carrers to another field 64.62 6 68.85 5 44.49 5
6 Contractors do not provide training for employees 73.85 4 72.69 4 53.68 4
7 Seeking foreign employment with higher salary 78.08 2.5 74.23 2 57.96 2
Relative
Important Rank
Frequency Index RankFrequency Index Rank

13. EFFECTS
1 Delay in project duration/Slow construction 81.54 1 79.62 2 64.92 1
2 Inability to understand drawings 72.31 5.5 66.15 9 47.83 7
3 Inability to manage unforseen site conditions 71.54 7 64.23 10 45.95 9
4 Poor Quality of work 72.69 4 80.38 1 58.43 2
5 Errors during constructions 70.38 8 69.62 6.5 49.00 6
6 Improper construction method 72.31 5.5 75.38 4 54.51 4
7 Less labour productivity 75.00 2 75.77 3 56.83 3
8 Material Wastage 73.46 3 73.85 5 54.25 5
9 Additional cost of removing bad works 67.31 9 69.62 6.5 46.86 8
10 Safety issues 66.92 10 68.46 8 45.82 10
Relative
Important Rank
Frequency Index Rank Frequency Index Rank

14. MITIGATIONAL MEASURES
1 Increase the supply of skilled labour 88.46 4
2 Improve the skills of the labours at the company level
through proper in house training 83.46 8
3 Increase salary/ Wages 88.08 5
4 Establishment of minimum salary level 76.92 12
5 Arranging seminar/training programmes through ICTAD/IESL 95.38 1
6 Creating a healthy and safe working environment 91.54 2
7 Assess the level of skills of labourers and provide a grading
system to motivate them mentally to acquire skills 87.69 6
8 Conduct annual surveys on trends of labour market,
understand the competencies required by the labours in
current industry and restructure the format of training
programmes accordingly 81.92 10
9 Better coordination and communication between training
institutes 82.69 9
10 Conduct Awareness Programmes for contractors to recruit
sufficient number of skilled labour illustrating the
advantagess associated with 84.62 7
11 Provide a proper certificate of service at the end of the
end of termination of service evaluating the level of
competencies such that they can present it somewhere else
as a valid certificate about his skills 89.23 3
12 Conduct annual survey to monitor the demand and supply of
skilled labour 78.85 11
13 Making regulations on the minimum number of skilled labour
and their competencies employed in a construction project
based on the size of the project 73.08 14
14 Defining a minimum ratio of skilled labour to unskilled labour
depending on the nature of the work 76.15 13
Important Index Rank

15. CORRELATION AMONG RESPONDENTS
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
Correlation Coefficient
Type

16. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Identified Casual Factors
Inadequate supply of skilled labour from training institutes
Seeking foreign employment with higher salary
Inadequacy of skills in the available labour force

17. Identified Effects
Delay in project duration/Slow construction
Poor Quality of work
Less labour productivity

18. Identified Mitigation Measures
Arranging seminar/training programmes through ICTAD/IESL
Creating a healthy and safe working environment
Provide a proper certificate of service at the end of the end of
termination of service evaluating the level of competencies such
that they can present it somewhere else as a valid certificate about
his skills

19. QUESTIONNAIRE 2

20. ANALYZING CATEGORIES
1. Basic Details
2. Work Experience
3. Satisfaction
4. Salary Comparison
5. Training Experience
6. About Migration

21. 01.BASIC DETAILS
Labour category Skilled 50 (90.9%)
unskilled 5 (9.1%)
gender male 100%
female 0%
Age group Bellow 35 42%
Above 35 58%
Education level 0-8 10%
GCE O/L 88%
GCE A/L 2%

22. LABOUR CATEGORIES
LABOUR CATOGORY NO OF RESPONSES PERCENTAGE(%)
Heavy Equipment Operators 6 10.9
Masons 10 18.2
Carpenter 9 16.4
Bar bender 8 14.5
Rigger 5 9.1
Electrician 3 5.5
Signalman 1 1.8
Plumbers 3 5.5
Concrete Workers 5 9.1
Tillers 1 1.8
Unskilled Labour 5 9.1

23. 10.90%
18.20%
16.40%
14.50%
9.10%
5.50%
1.80%
5.50%
9.10%
1.80%
9.10%
LABOUR CATEGORY
Heavy Equipment Operators
Masons
Carpenter
Bar Bender
Rigger
Electrician
Signalman
Plumbers
Concrete Workers
Tillers
Unskilled Labour

24. 02.WORK EXPERIENCE
LABOUR CATEGORY WORK EXPERIENCE
0-5 yrs. 5-10 yrs. More than 10yrs.
Heavy Equipment
Operators 33% 50% 17%
Masons 10% 40% 50%
Carpenter 22% 33% 44%
Bar bender 38% 50% 13%
Rigger 80% 0% 20%
Electrician 67% 33% 0%
Signalman 100% 0% 0%
Plumbers 0% 67% 33%
Concrete Workers 20% 60% 20%
Tillers 0% 100% 0%
Total 30% 42% 28%
Unskilled Labour 100% 0% 0%

25. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
percentage
labour category
WORK EXPERIENCE
More Than 10
Yrs.
5-10y
0-5

26. 30%
42%
28%
WORK EXPERIENCE
0-5 yrs
5 to 10 yrs
more than10

27. 03.SATISFACTION
LABOUR CATOGORY JOB SATISFACTION WORK LOAD SALORY SATISFACTION
Heavy Equipment
Operators 83% 100% 50%
Masons 100% 100% 100%
Carpenter 78% 100% 11%
Bar Bender 75% 100% 25%
Rigger 80% 60% 20%
Electrician 67% 100% 0%
Signalman 100% 100% 100%
Plumbers 67% 100% 33%
Concrete Workers 60% 40% 20%
Tillers 100% 100% 100%
Satisfaction From Total 40 46 21
Skilled Labours 80% 92% 42%
Unskilled Labour 40% 80% 40%

28. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
percentage
labour category
SATISFACTION
Job
Salary
Work Load

29. Wish to continue the same job…..
LABOUR CATEGORY PERCENTAGE
heavy equipment operators 83%
masons 100%
carpenter 56%
bar bender 75%
rigger 60%
electrician 67%
signalman 100%
plumbers 67%
concrete workers 60%
tillers 0%
unskilled labour 60%

30. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Heavy
Equipment
Operators
Masons Carpenter Bar Bender Rigger Electrician Signalman Plumbers Concrete
Workers
Tillers
percentage
labour category
CONTINUING SAME OCCUPATION

31. 04.SALORY COMPARISON
Labour category PRESENT
SALORY EXPECTED SALORY
(monthly) (monthly)
LKR LKR
heavy equipment
operators 41750 48750
masons 41250 41850
carpenter 42000 49167
bar bender 43500 50500
rigger 38400 45600
electrician 35000 44000
signalman 34500 34500
plumbers 43000 53000
concrete workers 40800 46800
tillers 45000 51000
Unskilled labours 28500 33900

32. 0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
percentage
labour catogaory
SALARY COMPARISON
present salary
expected salary

33. Labour Category
Responses
Work Experience Satisfaction Wish To
Continue
Same
Occupatio
n
Present
Salary
Expecte
d Salary
0-5
Years
5-10
Years
More
Than 10
Yrs.
Job Salar
y
Work
Load
Number Percentage (Monthly)LKR
Heavy Equipment Operators
6 10.9% 33% 50% 17% 83% 50% 100
%
83% 41750 48750
Masons
10 18.2% 10% 40% 50% 100
%
100
%
100
%
100% 41250 41850
Carpenter
9 16.4% 22% 33% 44% 78% 11% 100
%
56% 42000 49167
Bar Bender
8 14.5% 38% 50% 13% 75% 25% 100
%
75% 43500 50500
Rigger 5 9.1% 80% 0% 20% 80% 20% 60% 60% 38400 45600
Electrician
3 5.5% 67% 33% 0% 67% 0% 100
%
67% 35000 44000
Signalman
1 1.8% 100% 0% 0% 100
%
100
%
100
%
100% 34500 34500
Plumbers
3 5.5% 0% 67% 33% 67% 33% 100
%
67% 43000 53000
Concrete Workers 5 9.1% 20% 60% 20% 60% 20% 40% 60% 40800 46800
Tillers
1 1.8% 0% 100% 0% 100
%
100
%
100
%
0% 45000 51000

34. 05.TRAINING EXPERIENCES
Training institutes
1.Small Industry Development Board
2.Sri Lankan Youth Service Council
3.NAITA
4.Sri Lankan Army
5.Foreign Training at UAE
6.ICTAD
7.German Tech
8.Dudly Senanayake Multi Task Training Institue
9.VTA
10.Galkulama Construction Training

35. NEED
FURTHER
TRAINING
NOT NEED
TRAINING
TOTAL
PERCENTAG
E
TRAINED
BEFORE 11 10 42%
NOT
TRAINED
BEFORE 13 16 58%
TOTAL
PERCENTAG
E 48% 52%

36. skilledlaboursin
constructionindustry
trained - 42%
need further
training - 52%
no need - 48%
non trained - 58%
need further
training -45%
no need training -
55%

37. 06.ABOUT MIGRATION
WISH TO GO
ABROAD
NOT WISH
TO GO
TOTAL
PERCENTAGE
WORKED IN
ABROAD 5 4 18%
NOT
WORKED IN
ABROAD 22 19 82%
TOTAL
PERCENTAGE 54% 46%

38. skilledlaboursinconstruction
industry
worked in abroad
- 18%
wish to go - 56%
not - 44%
not - 82%
wish to go abroad -
54%
not -46%

39. Item Percentage
01. Gender
Male 100%
Female 0%
02. Age Group
Bellow 35 Yrs. 42%
Above 35 Yrs. 58%
03. Work Experience
0-5 Years 30%
5-10 Years 42%
More Than 10 Yrs. 28%
04. Satisfaction
Salary 42%
Job 80%
No Of Leaves 100%
Work Load 92%
05. Training
Trained Before 42%
Need Further Training 48%
06. Wish To Work In Abroad 54%
07. Wish To Continue The Same Occupation 74%

40. CONCLUSION
Reasons for skills shortage within Sri Lanka….
 less wage relative to other countries
 inadequate training
 skills drain
 less work experience
 shift the carrier after working some years
 negative social attitude towards the skilled labours
 wastage of female skills without contributing

41. Thank You!