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Dubai: More than 160 construction projects in the UAE are being delayed because of an alarming shortage of skilled labour, according to latest figures in the industry.
David Savage, managing director of Al Habtoor Engineering, said, "The Gulf market is perhaps the hottest construction market in terms of activity of all time. There's no sign of slowing or reduction. There have been booms in the past but not a sustained boom like this in the world construction industry."
There are currently $160 billion worth of projects in Dubai alone and around one million labourers in the construction industry, with around 95 per cent of the workforce being foreigners.
Samir Khosla, vice-chairman of Dynamic Staffing Solutions said across all industries in the UAE, 42.5 per cent of expatriate workers are Indian. "And 60 to 70 per cent of them are in the construction industry."
According to Greg Christofides, executive director at Arabtec, "We currently have around 40,000 people. Our forecast for 2008 is to increase this by 50 per cent."
Khosla said, "Lots of the main contractors are now looking at technology as a way to reduce the labour component."
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