Construction’s Hidden Workforce Risk

Construction’s Hidden Workforce Risk
October 14, 2026 10 mins

Construction’s Hidden Workforce Risk

Construction’s Hidden Workforce Risk

Construction workforce risk and workforce readiness can become an execution risk when critical capabilities are not mobilized, scaled or replaced at the pace projects require, jeopardizing schedules, margins and capital.

Key Takeaways
  1. Concentrated expertise can create hidden dependencies that disrupt delivery and put project economics at risk when critical capabilities are scarce and difficult to replace.
  2. AI investment may increase pressure on limited review and approval capacity.
  3. Connected workforce, project and financial data can show which capability gaps put the most project value at risk.

Construction and real estate organizations are investing in AI and pursuing higher productivity, but the workforce capabilities and skills needed to fulfill those ambitions may not be developing at the same pace. Project performance depends not only on materials, capital and contracts, but also on whether the right expertise and decision-making capacity are available. If those dependencies remain hidden, organizations may underestimate their exposure to delayed approvals, interrupted activity, repeated work and higher costs driven by construction workforce risk. 

Aon's 2026 Human Capital Trends Study highlights gaps in access to AI-skilled talent, workforce data maturity and leadership visibility. The findings raise a broader business question: Where does critical expertise reside, and how much do revenue, margin and project delivery depend on it? 

  • 25%

    can recruit and retain enough AI-skilled talent.

  • 28%

    report a high level of HR data maturity.

  • 22%

    describe leadership’s commitment to employee wellbeing as strong and visible.

    Source: Aon’s 2026 Human Capital Trends Study

Projects may appear adequately staffed while relying on a small number of specialists, reviewers or decision makers. These dependencies often remain hidden until expertise is unavailable, multiple projects compete for the same resources or delivery demands exceed team capacity. They can become even more consequential in complex infrastructure environments, where construction intersects with power, energy and specialized supply chains. A constraint in one part of the ecosystem can affect the delivery and economics of the wider investment. 

Aon's 2025 Global Risk Management Survey ranked workforce shortage as the fifth most critical current risk facing construction and real estate organizations. Identifying capability dependencies early can help organizations reduce disruption, protect project economics and strengthen resilience against construction workforce risk. 

Hidden Workforce Concentrations can Amplify Project Loss 

Only 28% of construction and real estate respondents to Aon’s 2026 Human Capital Trends Study report a high level of HR data maturity, 10 percentage points below the global average.  

HR data alone may not reveal where project performance depends on scarce expertise. Even the firms that are collecting HR data might have unexpected gaps that leave them exposed to concentration risk. “Head count data can show the number of people assigned to a project,” says Sharon Egilinsky, Digital Infrastructure Growth Leader, Human Capital, North America, “but it doesn’t show whether several projects rely on the same engineer. It can also miss issues like when only one site leader understands a specialty construction method or a critical contractor has limited replacement options.” 

The exposure extends beyond the cost of replacing an individual. It includes decisions that cannot be approved, activities that cannot proceed and project value that depends on those activities remaining on schedule.  

Connecting workforce, project and financial information provides a fuller view:  

  • HR teams track roles, vacancies and skills. 
  • Project teams monitor activities and milestones. 
  • Risk and finance teams assess delays, interruption and loss.  

Viewed separately, these datasets may not show how much value depends on a single capability or decision maker. 

This separation may contribute to the wider gap between reported losses and risk quantification. Aon’s 2025 Global Risk Management Survey found that 39.1% of respondents reported a loss of income related to workforce shortage in the 12 months prior, while only 8.1% had quantified the risk. Workforce-related impacts may be recorded as overtime costs, subcontractor expenses, project delays, rework or lost revenue rather than being linked to a common capability dependency. 

Concentration risk is not limited to technical expertise. It can also sit within decision authority. Aon’s research identifies leadership and people management as the most critical workforce skills for construction and real estate organizations over the next three years. It also identifies information overload and competing priorities as the leading barriers to effective communication. 

“Competing demands on a limited group of decision makers can slow the interpretation, escalation and resolution of critical issues,” says Tariq Taherbhai, Global Chief Commercial Officer, Construction & Infrastructure. “The timing of intervention can then influence the outcome. A design issue addressed before construction may require a controlled adjustment. The same issue identified later could result in rework, delay and contractual dispute.” 

Capability concentration can therefore arise in both technical expertise and the authority to review, escalate and approve consequential decisions. Organizations can assess where this capacity is constrained and how quickly qualified alternatives could be mobilized. 

Capability risk reflects wider workforce readiness: Can an organization attract, develop, retain and redeploy talent as project demands evolve? This determines how quickly critical capabilities can be scaled, transferred or replaced when project requirements change. Capability concentration can also exist outside the organization. A project might depend on a specialist engineering partner, equipment supplier or a contractor whose expertise or capacity is difficult to replace. 

4 Signs of Concentrated Capability Risk

How AI can Concentrate Review Capacity 

AI adoption is advancing across construction and real estate. According to Aon’s 2026 Human Capital Trends Study, 28% of respondents have deployed AI, 34% are piloting it and 24% are in the pre-implementation stage. Only 14% are not actively using AI.  

The study also points to a potential pressure point. Ninety-one percent anticipate that AI will automate some tasks while existing roles remain necessary. A further 80% expect AI to create opportunities that require new skills, yet only 25% believe they can recruit and retain enough AI-skilled talent. 

These findings suggest that AI could intensify an existing form of capability concentration. As technology increases the volume and speed of project outputs, more work may depend on a limited group of specialists and leaders with the expertise and authority to review, challenge and approve it. 

AI can help teams produce estimates, schedules, design analysis and documentation more efficiently. However, these outputs still require experienced professionals to validate assumptions, assess exceptions and approve decisions with operational, financial or safety implications. 

As the volume of AI-supported work increases, demand for review may grow faster than the capacity to support it. Estimators, engineers and project leaders may need to validate larger volumes of work across multiple projects while maintaining effective oversight and clear accountability. This is where broader capability concentration can become review concentration risk, particularly during tender activity, major design changes or schedule recovery efforts. It’s not only whether organizations have enough AI-skilled talent. It is whether roles, decision rights, governance and development plans evolve quickly enough to absorb AI-enabled changes in the volume and pace of work.

AI may accelerate project outputs, but the value it creates still depends on the people responsible for reviewing, challenging and approving them.

Where AI Could Create New Project Dependencies

Organizations can test this exposure across four areas of project delivery.

  • Pricing and Estimation

    Who validates AI-supported assumptions, and what happens when experienced estimators are supporting multiple tenders simultaneously? 

  • Design and Engineering

    Which outputs require qualified technical approval, and does review capacity align with project timelines? 

  • Scheduling and Delivery

    Could faster analysis generate more changes or exceptions than project teams can effectively assess and implement?

  • Accountability

    Do governance processes and contractual arrangements clearly define responsibility for technology-supported decisions? 

5 Actions to Expose Hidden Construction Workforce Risk 

Organizations can measure construction workforce and capability risk by connecting skills, decision authority and workforce availability with project and financial data. This analysis can guide how they deploy and protect critical capability and reflect it in risk scenarios. 

  1. Map Capability Against Project Value 
    Identify the technical skills, reviewers and decision makers supporting critical milestones. Quantify the revenue, margin and contractual obligations dependent on their availability. 
  2. Test Concentration Across the Portfolio 
    Look beyond individual projects to determine where specialists, contractors, suppliers and senior leaders are supporting several material activities at the same time. 
  3. Challenge Workforce Assumptions in Risk Scenarios 
    Consider the temporary loss of critical expertise, constrained AI review capacity and limited recovery personnel within project delay, climate, cyber and business interruption scenarios. 
  4. Prioritize the Most Material Dependencies 
    Use the analysis to focus succession, specialist retention, alternative suppliers, knowledge transfer and clearer decision governance where they protect the greatest value. 
  5. Align Mitigation with Capital Decisions 
    Determine which exposures to mitigate, transfer, retain, or finance through insurance and other capital mechanisms to support business objectives. 

The final action remains underdeveloped across the sector. Only 4.7% of construction and real estate Aon risk survey respondents evaluated risk financing or transfer solutions specifically for workforce shortage.  

Not every workforce-related financial consequence will be insurable. Quantification still enables organizations to compare operational, contractual and financial responses, while directing investment toward the dependencies that place the most value at risk. 

Make Construction Workforce Risk Visible Before it Becomes a Loss 

Workforce challenges become business risks when critical expertise, review capacity or decision-making authority sit on the critical path of project delivery. As construction and real estate organizations invest in AI, productivity and growth, they need a clearer view of where project value depends on scarce capability, and whether the wider workforce and operating model are ready to execute. 

Aon can help organizations identify these dependencies and prioritize where to act through specialist retention, succession planning, knowledge transfer, alternative suppliers, clearer decision governance, contractual protections, insurance or capital planning. Connect with Aon to understand where critical capabilities support project value and incorporate those insights into execution risk, resilience and capital planning decisions. 

Aon’s Thought Leaders  

Sharon Egilinsky 
Digital Infrastructure Growth Leader, Human Capital, North America 

Tariq Taherbhai 
Global Chief Commercial Officer, Construction & Infrastructure

General Disclaimer

This document is not intended to address any specific situation or to provide legal, regulatory, financial, or other advice. While care has been taken in the production of this document, Aon does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the document or any part of it and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. Any recipient shall be responsible for the use to which it puts this document. This document has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication and is subject to any qualifications made in the document.

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