BROADCAST 2: Cheap labor and the volatility of the market

Skill levels are much lower than what they were 10-15 years back when it comes to labour, because the good talent is not coming into construction, says Francis Alfred, CEO of Sobha Group. People are moving into manufacturing since construction is a high-risk business. We need to invest in methodical training to improve this level. Hiking salaries won’t have an immediate effect; we need to adopt the right technologies and training.

The changing nature of the skills needed is a problem, says Iyad Sabouni, vice-president at Aecom. “We now use less CAD people, more BIM people. We use less technicians, more engineers.” Source: Mashreq Live Broadcast