A new report has revealed that the growth of AI infrastructure, including the demand for data centres, is set to squeeze global market capacity and drive rapid job creation in UK construction
The growth in demand for AI infrastructure is creating a two-speed construction market, where geopolitical tensions, economic challenges, and workforce constraints are limiting investor confidence in traditional sectors such as residential and commercial.
Turner & Townsend’s Global Construction Market Intelligence report analyses the global construction industry and provides unrivalled insights into how technology is reshaping the sector.
Stephanie Marshall, managing director, real estate cost management, at Turner & Townsend, explained: “The global construction market is shifting, and new dynamics are reshaping the key drivers of cost performance.
“Demand is increasingly uneven and concentrated in AI-driven sectors such as data centres, while broader labour constraints, supply chain volatility and geopolitical risk are becoming more pronounced.”
AI infrastructure is performing the best across the construction sector
The huge growth of AI infrastructure across the sector has ensured data centres are now the second most in-demand area of construction.
On the other hand, residential and commercial office development remained subdued, ranking only ninth and seventh in the report.
Overstretched capacity will increase the need for skilled labour to build data centres
Data centres are now the most constrained sector globally when it comes to contractor capacity, with over 70% of the 112 markets analysed reporting tight or overstretched capacity.
This is raising the likelihood of a severe shortfall in the skilled labour required to build data centres and supports calls for increased training and more concentrated efforts to recruit the workforce needed.
“In the UK, there is a very real risk that growth in the pool of skilled labour needed to build data centres won’t keep up with demand,” Marshall stated.
“In construction, AI has the potential to be a force for good in terms of job creation, but only if the right resources are put in place to support it. Additionally, the impact on energy prices of the conflict in the Middle East will be indirect and uneven, varying by geography and sector depending on supply chain structure and energy dependence.”
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