Inside the Global Construction Boom: Managing Risk and Talent

Inside the Global Construction Boom: Managing Risk and Talent
April 24, 2026 17 mins

Inside the Global Construction Boom: Managing Risk and Talent

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Aon construction leaders explore the scale, complexity and opportunity shaping the global construction sector today.

Key Takeaways
  1. Construction is a critical engine of the global economy, with investment in data centers, power and critical infrastructure set to drive growth for years to come.
  2. As projects grow larger and financing structures evolve, risk management has become a leadership discipline rather than a technical exercise.
  3. Human Capital is emerging as a strategic differentiator. Talent shortages and rising technical demands mean workforce capability, safety and upskilling are essential inputs to growth.

Intro
Hello and welcome to another episode of On Aon — Aon’s global podcast that explores the top issues affecting businesses around the world with each week dedicated to either a Risk Capital, Human Capital, Industry or Global topic. 

This week it’s our Industry Insight, which looks at the Risk Capital and Human Capital issues facing a particular industry. 

And we’re discussing one of the main forces powering the global economy — the construction industry.   

Discussing the impact of the sector — and the risk and people issues its tackling with are: Tariq Taherbhai, Chief Commercial Officer, Construction and Infrastructure, Aon, and James MacNeal, Aon’s Global Industry Specialty Leader, Construction and Infrastructure.  
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
Hello and welcome to this Industry Insight episode of the on Aon podcast. My name is Tariq Taherbhai and I'm the global chief commercial officer for our construction and infrastructure specialty here in Aon. And as you can probably guess from my title, we are going to be speaking about construction, all things construction today and its global impact on Risk Capital and Human Capital. With me today, I've got James McNeil. 

Very excited to have James. He is our global head of construction and in that role sees anything and everything to do with construction that the firm sees and excited to get his insights and thoughts. Yeah, let's just jump into it. Welcome James. I'm really happy to have you here today. 
 
James MacNeal  
Thanks and great to be here, Tariq. Always delighted to talk about what we're getting up to in construction. I don't know about you, but I never get bored traveling the world and going through airport terminals, driving over bridges, through tunnels, all sorts of infrastructure globally that we've helped deliver. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
Yeah, actually, that's a good point, James, maybe for another podcast, we can have you rate airport terminals, given the amount of airports you've spent time in. I think that would be insightful to colleagues and clients to rank them. 
 
James MacNeal  
I'd be delighted and airlines are probably very controversial, but I'd be happy to do. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
Excellent, excellent. Maybe we can put that down. We'll put in a request to the On Aon people to get that done. So why don't we switch gears? Let's talk about construction since we're here today for that. So, James, let's start with maybe just if you can give us a brief overview of the construction industry today and the impact it's having on the global economy. How is the sector doing? 
 
James MacNeal 
Very well, thank you. And I'm going to share some numbers with you. It's just extraordinary how massive construction is to the global economy. I don't think most people realize. We're talking about close to $17 trillion spent on construction-related goods and services every year. That's around 13% of the world's GDP. So basically, for every $7 circulating in the global economy, one could be traced back to construction in some way. 

And the good news story, it's very much one of continued growth, Tariq. Our 2026 Global Construction Insurance and Security Market Report points to spend actually rising to around $22 trillion by 2030. And that's driven by a few things. That's everything from energy transition to the rapid build-out of the digital economy and really the need to modernize aging infrastructure that's really all over the world. 

And it's not just about the dollars. Construction is a massive employer. If you think about it, 220 million people around the world have some sort of job in construction. It's mind-boggling. And that means that sort of one in every 12 workers on the planet is involved in some shape or form. They could be part of a big team, putting up a data center, local tradespeople just making sure buildings are safe and running smoothly. 

And talking globally, geographically, China, the U.S., no surprises, India really dominate production and are setting the tone. But opportunities are broad-based and you're seeing really strong pipelines all over the world on things like digital infrastructure, power, and other critical assets. And that's a really common theme, those three areas. And if I may, I'd just like to acknowledge we do have, we all know we've got two significant conflicts unfortunately going on at this time, one in Europe and another in the Middle East. And whilst we can expect some impact to the construction sector, just candidly it's too soon for me to comment on the impact of the war to the Middle Eastern construction industry. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
No, that's a fair point. Thank you for that. But just reflecting on those numbers, that's absolutely massive and just brings home how critical the sector is to the global economy. But what's really interesting actually to me is it's true. Construction is all around us, isn't it? It's the city workers paving roads, filling potholes, tenant fit-outs in nearly leased offices to probably the massive data centers being built right out around the corner from our cities and various locations. So much construction happening all the time, yet we don't think about it until that moment, until that moment I'm delayed because the road is blocked off and I'm annoyed because I can't get somewhere. 
 
James MacNeal  
I'm terribly sorry, Tariq, but you're typical consumer. You want the benefit of all this infrastructure, but you just don't want it in your own backyard while it's being built. I think we're all guilty of that. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
That's a fair point. I should be a better consumer, given how valuable the sector is to the economy. So when you speak to construction leaders, James, what are the risk issues that keep coming up? 
 
James MacNeal  
I think across all markets, the themes are pretty consistent. To start: high costs are still a major challenge. Even though material labor inflation isn't quite as extreme as it was, it's still squeezing margin and it's making it really tough to keep projects on budget. And this really ties in with what we're hearing in Aon's Global Risk Management Survey where things like economic slowdown and worries about liquidity, cash flow, really top of mind for most construction clients.  

Think about supply chains. Getting hold of essential materials and specialist equipment is still tough. And the timing, it's really unpredictable. And as I mentioned, with everything going on geopolitically, especially in the Middle East right now, we're seeing big impacts on logistics and prices. And according to the Aon GRM survey, supply chain disruptions ranks amongst the top 10 risks for the construction sector both now and in the future.  

And lastly, you've got the heightened risk and insurance complexity. You've got large project risk, professional liability in cyber, all becoming entwined and projects are getting ever bigger. Think about those big jumbo data centers we're now seeing. You see some of these are 30, 40, 50 billion and growing in size. It's extraordinary. And these projects, they're really technically complex. So a design error or a natural catastrophe event can have a knock-on effect across multiple contractors and stakeholders. And you know, our 2026 Construction Insurance and Surety Report talks about this in the context of growing delay and startup exposures. You've got higher limits and the need for more sophisticated risk transfer structures. And, Tariq, whenever I meet construction leaders, the big question they're grappling with is how can we keep building on a large scale and still stay on top of costs, volatility and all this complexity. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
So just to do, if I may, a bit of a recap, three themes: high costs, supply chains, and heightened risk and insurance complexity.  

So I guess the question then, James, is: all of that volatility that we're seeing in the survey, in the Aon GRMS, is showing up on job sites, which brings me to the fact that the pace of change is feeling faster. As you said, projects are getting larger. 

So what risk management strategies can our construction clients adopt here? 
 
James MacNeal  
Let's go with three things again, Tariq. I tend to look at this in three parts. Firstly, you've got to really understand your risk. Secondly, you've got to be smart about how you use your insurance and surety capital. And thirdly, and really importantly, make sure that discipline actually shows up at project level. It has to be used practically. So, you know, starting with the first part, we're seeing leaders really step up their game with data and analytics. 

The GRMS points out things like economic slowdowns, swinging commodity prices, workforce shortages are amongst the biggest risks. But the real advantage, it comes when you turn those broad risks into practical project level insights, use it at the cold face. The 2026 Construction Insurance and Surety Report gives some great examples, well worth a look, where we look at, we use scenario analysis, we look at more detailed Natcat modeling to help owners and contractors see exactly how exposed they are to things like extreme weather, not just for their whole portfolio, but for each individual project, which is really crucial in the construction sector. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
You know, James, if I may, that's a really good point, because I know that a number of our clients, aren't they coming up to us and asking us for advice on climate risk with respect to particular sites? That's really meaningful, isn't it? 
 
James MacNeal  
Absolutely, it's crucial when you've got that sort of exposure, those sort of PMLs. The second point, looking at risk and capital. What we're seeing now is a real push to make sure risk capital arrangements actually fit the clients’ appetite for risk and their financial situation. So, you know, in some cases that means rethinking how much risk they keep themselves or look at alternative ways to transfer risk, especially when we're talking about those natural catastrophes, they're a major concern and a major exposure. It's only getting more prominent with climate change. And finally, when it comes to actually getting things done, the companies that stand out, the ones with solid systems for managing contracts, they keep track of changes and they stay on top of project controls. So, this is what we're telling our clients, instead of just reacting to risks as they come up, it's time to get proactive and use data to your advantage. 

If you treat risk as something you can actually manage, you'll get better deal terms, stronger resilience, and often better results for your project. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
That's really good advice. Thanks, James. And that really reinforces the message that the risk and capital decisions need to be joined up. But of course, as we know, as we hear from our clients, none of this happens without people. And our industry is so people-intensive. Project managers, engineers, skilled trades, just the numbers you talked about, the hundreds of millions involved. It is a people business. And increasingly, I think we're actually also going to see more technologists and roboticists involved with construction as well.  

We're already seeing an explosion of funding for the development of real-world AI models. As you and I have discussed, we see more AI being used on job sites and I'm confident that we're going to see a whole new set of skills being applied to construction. And I guess this brings me to my next question, James. What about on the human capital side? What are the big issues there that you're seeing? 
 
James MacNeal  
Tariq, human capital is absolutely one of the biggest challenges for the sector. We're seeing persistent labor shortages and skills gaps, especially in those specialist trades and tech-enabled roles that you mentioned. And as projects become more complex, think large data centers, renewables, major infrastructure. You really need people who can operate advanced equipment and work things like BIM models. And the talent pool in those areas is really tight across the market. 

At same time, you've got labor costs rising, you've got competition for skilled workers is really intense. And let's not forget construction. Contractors aren't just competing with each other. They're competing with other industries for engineers, project control specialists, and digital talent.  

This is a major issue across various industries. And our GRM survey points out that workforce shortage and failure to attract and retain top talent are both in the top 10 future risks for construction, which really reinforces what we're hearing from our clients. So I think really I'd say from a risk perspective, those human capital, those pressures, they affect safety, productivity and project delivery. And if you don't have enough experienced people in key roles, that can increase the likelihood of quality issues and incidents. And it can have a knock-on impact on schedule and costs, which actually links back to the financial and operational risks we've talked about. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
Wow. Lots to consider for our clients as they think about their people issues for sure. Just like we did with the risk capital issues, with the risk issues that you'd identified, James, I wonder if you could actually now also spend some time talking about some strategies. What strategies can companies adopt here to deal with their people issues? 
 
James MacNeal  
I'd say that there's three key strategies we're seeing from leaders in this space. Firstly, they're looking at talent as a strategic risk to pick up from our last point. It's crucial. It's not just an HR issue anymore. We've got to look at the data to figure out where the most important skills are and how the experienced people they've got are spread across projects and where the potential gaps could come in the future.  

We're actually working with clients to conduct this analysis, especially around workforce shortages and that competition for talent. Secondly, companies that are investing in upskilling and re-skilling. We're seeing people from outside the construction industry being re-skilled to come into it because there's a demand in our industry. That's particularly around digital tools, tech-enabled roles. And projects are increasingly dependent on advanced technologies like digital twins and project monitoring tools. And those capabilities, they only deliver any value and they're only effective if you've actually got the people that know how to use them on sites and elsewhere. So it's important.  

And I think the third big shift we're seeing is a real emphasis on safety, wellbeing, company culture, which really lines up nicely with what insurers are paying attention to these days. Top contractors are using data to track things like near-misses and training. And by focusing on these early warning signs, they're not only keeping their teams safer but they're also improving their risk profile. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
Yeah, I just, again, reflect on the fact that so many of our clients are looking at technologies like wearables and other technologies to help their colleagues be safer on site. So important, so very important.  

We've covered a lot of ground today in the size of the industry, the impact it's having on the world's economy, to all of the risk issues and people issues that our clients are facing and right through to the boom that we're seeing in large construction across the board.  

So, if I may, maybe if I could just ask you to sum up, James, with a few key takeaways. And in keeping with our theme of the number of takeaways, maybe if I could ask you to keep it to three, that would be great. 
 
James MacNeal  
Yeah, it seems to be our preferred number, doesn't it? Here's your big three, Tariq, from me, I'll leave you with. 

To start, it's really important to know where the growth is coming from. It sounds obvious, but it does impact your risks. And right now, they're the three main drivers of growth globally, as we mentioned earlier. It's data centers, it's power, and it's that critical infrastructure. And these sectors, they're not going away. They're going to influence how companies invest, hire new talent, and manage risk for, I think, many years to come. 

Secondly, with projects getting more complicated and private financing is playing a much bigger role, solid risk management and insurance. They’re not just optional anymore, they're absolutely essential. And these days, everyone's involved from investors, owners to contractors, and they all want a common theme. They all want clear answers on who's responsible for what and how Natcat risks are handled and how delaying startup and other crucial insurance covers are set up. And so by tapping into insights from our thought leadership, like Global Risk Management Survey, like our Global Construction Insurance and Surety report, organizations can make smarter calls about which risk to keep, which to transfer on those bigger complex projects.  

And the third point, keep your eye on volatility, crucial, especially when it comes to supply chains and prices. With all the trade disruptions and geopolitical tensions we're seeing, and that they're going to be sticking around for some time to come, budgets and margins are going to be under pressure. And the companies that are staying ahead are the ones mapping out their key suppliers, they're building backup options into their sourcing plans, and they're using strategies like financial hedging to help manage the risks that come from these unpredictable commodity prices. 

If I had to sum it up, Tariq, I'd say this. The outlook for construction is incredibly positive. It's a great time to be in construction but success will belong to those who treat risk as something they can strategically manage by using data analytics and the insights we've captured in, for example, our latest thought leadership. 
 
Tariq Taherbhai  
Thank you, James, very much. That was really terrific. And I think you've given our listeners a lot to chew on about our industry and the impact it's having and how they can succeed within it. Thanks again for joining me.  

So everyone, that's our show for today. Thank you for listening. There's a link to the 2026 Construction Insurance and Surety Report in the show notes for this episode. You can also always go to aon.com for insights. And in the next few months, I'm told we'll have more industry insight episodes, including ones on manufacturing, food, ag and bev and retail. Until next time. 
 
Outro 
Thanks for tuning into the latest episode of On Aon. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to visit Aon.com to learn more about Aon.  

We’ll be back next week with another episode — our Global Insight — where we’ll be discussing the latest geopolitical, legal and economic news. 

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