Insights

If you read the headlines, you might think data centres are the problem. They use energy. They take up space. They create “just a few jobs.” They’re described as grey, windowless boxes that quietly sit in industrial zones, consuming power and giving little back. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: If you switched them off tomorrow, modern society would end.

The construction industry is moving faster than ever. Digital twins. Information management frameworks. AI-assisted workflows. Data-driven decision-making. Asset-focused delivery. Clients demanding structured data, not just drawings. Meanwhile, universities operate in three- to five-year curriculum cycles, shaped by accreditation requirements, professional standards, and institutional governance. So the question isn’t provocative for the sake of it. It’s necessary: Can academia keep up with a rapidly changing construction industry?

The construction industry has a people problem. Across markets, firms are struggling to hire and retain building surveyors, quantity surveyors, project managers, and estimators. The demand for construction is growing, regulation is increasing, risk is rising, and yet more people are leaving the industry than entering. And no amount of wishful thinking will fix that.

Thinking about concrete as a sustainable material might sound a bit weird. But when you look past the headline statistics regarding its carbon impact, you start to see a material that is undergoing a quiet, chemical revolution.

The construction industry talks a lot about labour shortages. Less often do we talk about why people leave.