Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Sri Lanka is once again showing signs of economic recovery. Major infrastructure projects are being discussed, highways are being planned, urban development is accelerating, and private sector investment is slowly returning. Yet beneath this optimism lies a serious challenge that threatens to derail the country’s construction ambitions: the severe shortage of both skilled and unskilled labour.

The Chamber of Construction Industry’s decision to initiate a discussion on this subject is timely and necessary. The reality is that Sri Lanka’s construction sector is not adequately prepared to meet the manpower demands of a rapidly expanding economy.

For years, policymakers have focused on project financing, foreign investment, and construction technology. However, very little attention has been paid to the human resources required to execute these projects. Contractors across the country are struggling to recruit masons, welders, carpenters, steel fixers, machine operators, fabricators, and even general labourers.

The problem is not new.

More than twenty years ago, Colombo Dockyard began importing welders and fabricators from India because of the shortage of local skilled workers. Today the situation has become even more acute. Many Sri Lankan craftsmen have migrated to the Middle East, Maldives, Australia, and other destinations where wages are significantly higher.

As a result, the country now faces a difficult choice. Either projects are delayed due to labour shortages, or Sri Lanka begins importing foreign workers on a large scale. While importing labour may provide a temporary solution, it also means a substantial outflow of foreign exchange and creates social and economic challenges of its own.

The deeper issue lies within our education system and societal attitudes.

For decades, parents and policymakers have encouraged young people to pursue university education, often treating vocational training as a second-class option. The result is an oversupply of degree holders and a severe shortage of technicians, craftsmen, and skilled tradesmen.

A nation cannot build highways, ports, factories, ships, power plants, and housing schemes with academic qualifications alone. Physical development requires skilled hands as much as it requires educated minds.

Sri Lanka urgently needs a national vocational training revolution.

Technical colleges, apprenticeship schemes, and industry-linked training centres must be expanded and modernised. Young people should see careers in welding, fabrication, machinery operation, steel construction, and industrial maintenance as respected and financially rewarding professions.

At the same time, the construction industry itself must undergo a technological transformation.

The traditional dependence on labour-intensive building methods is no longer sustainable. Sri Lanka should aggressively promote steel construction, prefabricated building systems, modular housing, precast concrete components, and factory-produced wall panels. These technologies reduce construction time, improve quality, minimise waste, and significantly reduce manpower requirements.

Even highway bridges and certain infrastructure structures can increasingly utilise steel fabrication and modular construction techniques that require fewer workers on-site while improving project delivery times.

Another issue that deserves urgent attention is the environmental impact of construction material extraction.

The growing demand for sand, metal, clay, and other construction materials is placing enormous pressure on the environment. Illegal and poorly regulated mining operations continue to damage rivers, coastal areas, forests, and agricultural lands. Economic growth cannot come at the expense of environmental destruction.

Project planning must therefore integrate sustainable sourcing of construction materials and strict enforcement of environmental regulations. The country must avoid repeating mistakes that have caused irreversible environmental damage elsewhere in the region.

Looking further ahead, Sri Lanka should seriously consider developing a modern steel recycling and ship-scrapping industry. Thousands of tonnes of recyclable steel pass through the region annually. Properly managed ship recycling facilities could generate raw materials, create skilled employment, reduce import dependency, and support a domestic steel fabrication industry.

The Government is rightly promoting the digital economy. Digital transformation is essential for future competitiveness. However, digital growth alone cannot build ports, factories, industrial parks, power plants, bridges, and housing projects.

Sri Lanka must pursue both digital and physical development simultaneously.

The nation stands at a crossroads. Economic recovery is creating opportunities, but without a workforce strategy and technological transformation, many of these opportunities may be lost.

What is required now is not incremental reform but revolutionary thinking.

The country must rethink education, vocational training, industrial policy, construction technology, environmental management, and workforce planning as part of a single national strategy.

If Sri Lanka succeeds, it can create a modern, productive, and globally competitive construction industry. If it fails, labour shortages, project delays, rising costs, and environmental degradation will continue to undermine national development.

The challenge is clear. The question is whether we have the courage to confront it.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera