How Offshore Construction Teams and AI Are Solving the Global Labor Shortage in 2026

Learning about the problems that construction workers face

The construction industry affects almost every part of our lives. There are a lot of different things that construction workers do.

• The places we call home
• The schools our kids go to
• The places we work
• The bridges and roads we use to get from one place to another

They make the things that keep the economy going, make communities stronger, and keep people safe and healthy.

But right now, it’s hard for construction companies to find people to hire. There aren’t enough skilled workers to meet demand, which is causing:

• Less work is getting done
• Prices will go up
• Traditional methods of completing tasks will become less effective.

Why There Are So Many Jobs That Need Workers

There are several reasons why the construction industry lacks sufficient workers. These issues affect almost every part of the business and every project:

1. There aren’t enough people to do the work.
   
   • More skilled workers are leaving the field than are coming in.
   • Baby Boomers are leaving their jobs, and younger people aren’t joining fast enough to fill the gaps.
2. Prices and wait times are both going up.
   
   • When there aren’t enough workers, it takes longer to finish a job.
   • Contractors have to pay more for workers, training, and extra work.
3. Things aren’t as good as they used to be.
   
   • Traditional project management methods have a hard time meeting tight deadlines and making things that are hard to understand.
   • Businesses need new ways to make sure their projects stay on track.
4. Not enough skills and tech
   
   • Digital tools like BIM, digital twins, and automated project controls are getting more and more important.
   • Finding people who can use technical tools and fix problems that come up at work is challenging.

List of Important Issues

Field of Interest	What it is
There aren’t enough people to do the job.	There aren’t enough skilled workers, the people who work in the field are getting older, and fewer young people want to work in the field.
Prices and Waiting Times	It costs more to hire, train, and pay people extra hours, so projects take longer.
How to Do Things the Old Way	Old-fashioned ways of running projects don’t work well with builds that are more complicated now.
Lacking the appropriate tools and knowledge is a significant challenge.	People need digital skills like BIM and project controls, but it’s hard to find people who know both the field and the tech.

The Global Labour Shortage: A Problem with the Way Things Are Set Up

In a lot of places, it’s hard for construction companies to find, hire, and keep good workers. This isn’t just a change that will happen soon; it’s a problem with how things are set up that affects almost all areas and projects.

Models from the hiring and construction industries show that the gap between the number of workers needed and the number of workers available is still large and growing:

• The Associated Builders and Contractors’ ABC model:
  
  1. By 2025, 439,000 new workers will need to be hired to meet current demand.
  2. The number could reach 499,000 by 2026.

Reports from contractors:

• A lot of contractors (80–90%) say it’s hard to find workers, especially for jobs that need a lot of skill.

Not Enough Skilled Workers

• Too few people can:
  • Making things out of wood
  • Formwork
  • How to use the tools
  • Making concrete the main point
• Most places will probably need these jobs more and more.

The demographics of the workers make things worse.

• Many people who work in construction are older than people who work in other fields.
• A lot of them are going to stop working soon.
• Not enough young people are entering the field.
• Deloitte (2031):
  
  • 41% of people who work in construction now will not be able to find work in the future.

News from the Industry Recently

• BlackRock:
  
  • An aging workforce and a lack of skilled tradespeople, especially in electrical supervision, could make it take longer to build infrastructure.
• The report from Harvard:
  
  • Many immigrants in the U.S. work in construction.
  • Over 60% of construction workers in big cities were not born in the United States.
• New South Wales, Australia (what will happen in 2027):
  
  • Up to 300,000 more people will have to work on projects that make the infrastructure better.

Table: Key Facts About the Global Labour Shortage

Source or Group	Big Discovery
The ABC Model from 2025 to 2026	To meet demand, we need between 439,000 and 499,000 new workers.
Survey of Builders	Between 80% and 90% of people say it’s hard to find skilled workers at the middle to high levels.
There aren’t enough workers with the right skills.	Not enough people know how to use machines, work with wood, make forms, and work with concrete.
Deloitte (2031)	41% of people who work now will either quit or retire.
Black Rock	It might take longer to build infrastructure if the workers are older.
The Harvard Report	Sixty percent of construction workers in cities are immigrants.
Australia’s New South Wales in 2027	They need up to 300,000 more workers because there aren’t enough engineers, tradespeople, and project managers.

How to Lead and Manage Offshore Construction Teams That Do Great Work

Now that we know what issues businesses have with their workers, let’s talk about how offshore construction teams can help them finish their jobs faster and better.

How to Keep an Eye on Other Countries’ Teams

A lot of people used to say that hiring people from other countries was a good way to save money. Companies today depend on offshore construction teams because they deliver high-quality work, especially in terms of capacity.

1. Eliminating tasks that prolong work and reducing the number of urgent issues are essential.

Construction teams from other countries can move work around to get more done, say companies that hire them. Offshore teams can do routine or repetitive tasks instead of core engineering and project management staff.

Tasks handled by offshore teams:

• Writing and drawing to make documents
• Working together with BIM as a model
• Getting estimates and information
• Talking about prices and schedules
• Keeping an eye on quality and compliance

By outsourcing these mostly digital and repeatable tasks, leaders on-site can focus on the following:

• Choosing what to do
• Getting teams and subcontractors to work together
• Talking to customers
• Taking care of risk

You still need skilled workers, but offshore support lets them focus on the things that help you the most.

2. Using Different Time Zones to Keep Work Going

Most of the offshore teams and the project site are in different time zones. To make this work for them, successful companies set up delivery cycles that “follow the sun”:

• Teams in the Philippines or India can work on the U.S. projects while you sleep.
• New drawings, schedules, or quantity takeoffs are ready before the next day of work on site.

Good things:

• Makes work go faster
• Increases the amount of time working.
• Can cut the time it takes to finish a project by 30% to 50%

3. Things are more reliable when they follow the same steps every time.

When offshore teams follow clear rules and use templates, they tend to get better results. Standardized processes are:

• Keeping track of all the different versions
• How to make models and look over them
• Guidelines for keeping track of data

Pros:

• Less errors
• Less work to do again
• Easier to read through
• It’s easier to understand the results

Standardized rules make it easier for teams to work together on-site when they are designing, estimating, scheduling, and doing the work.

4. Ability to Change and Grow

There are always:

• Changes to the plan
• Delays in obtaining approvals or permits can significantly impact the project timeline.
• A workload that suddenly goes up

Offshore construction teams may vary in size, allowing for different numbers of workers.

• You can hire more or fewer workers without having to pay the usual fees and wait times that come with hiring people in your area.
• Quickly expand your workforce to meet client demands or accommodate busy periods.
• Stay away from the high costs of hiring temporary workers in the area.

What do teams that work offshore do, and what are their main jobs?

Digital workflows that can be done over and over again are easy for offshore teams to handle. Their main jobs are

1. Making and Keeping BIM Models

• BIM experts from other countries make, update, and keep building information models up to date.
• BIM makes sure that things can be built, finds problems early, and keeps records correct.
• Well-organized BIM outputs keep RFIs and schedule problems from happening.

2. Drafting and CAD Work

• Drafting teams must follow strict rules and BIM workflows in order to make a full set of drawings.
• Helps teams on the ground focus on high-level design and execution

3. Takeoffs for Amount and Cost

• It’s very important to have accurate takeoffs so that you can keep costs low and bid competitively.
• Cost databases and measurement standards help offshore teams do their jobs faster and more accurately.

4. Assist in developing a project plan.

• People in other countries handle changes to the schedule, cost reports, and paperwork for compliance.
• Can use Primavera P6 and MS Project well
• Gives project control experts on-site the time they need to figure out problems and fix them

How to Help Offshore Teams Do Well

Offshore teams need to plan, set clear goals, and work together in a way that makes sense.

1. Clear Roles and Duties

Teams need to know:

• What needs to be done
• What you can expect in terms of quality
• How to give someone else your work
• How their work helps the project achieve its goals

When people have clear definitions, they don’t do the same work twice or make mistakes.

2. Working and talking together

The best ways to do things are:

• Meeting with teams every day on site
• Weekly meetings to make sure everyone is on the same page
• Rules for making documents look the same

We can work well together without having to meet all the time.

3. Next Steps

Teams should use tools from the company, such as BIM 360, Procore, and Teams, to:

• Stick to the rules for documents and templates
• Help with planning and keeping an eye on things
• Check that the work done on-site is the same as the work done offshore

Tools and infrastructure for offshore teams in the digital age

1. Project platforms in the cloud

PlanGrid, Procore, and Autodesk BIM 360 are some of them.

• Centralized access keeps documents from getting out of date.
• Collaborating in real time

2. How to Talk to One Another

• Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom
• Let people talk to each other even if they are in different parts of the world
• Getting people’s information faster and more accurately

3. Dashboards for Reporting and Planning

• Keep an eye on how well things are going toward quality and milestone goals
• Real-time data lets you make changes before they happen and keeps you from being surprised.

How Offshore Teams Work Outside of the U.S.: Some Examples

1. More Output Before Building

• Teams that work offshore take care of the paperwork and other first tasks
• Faster bid preparation leads to more competitive proposals.

2. Time zones keep things going.

• Modeling and drafting overnight can cut down on downtime.
• Every day, teams on the site get new tasks to do.

3. Always of the Highest Quality

• Standardized BIM templates make things more reliable
• Less work to do means fewer planning mistakes

How to Deal with Issues with Teams from Other Countries

Things that go wrong a lot and how to fix them:

• Not talking to each other: SOPs and regular check-ins can help with this.
• Quality control: Set goals and check in on them often
• Talk about how cultural differences affect programs for onboarding, cross-training, and inclusion.
• Clear tasks: Make sure that everyone can access the same tools and information.

Put people and integration first to get through problems.

New Ways to Plan for the Workforce

Offshore teams make things more reliable, efficient, and flexible:

• Hire skilled workers from all over the world
• Change the size of the team based on what the project needs.
• Cut down on mistakes and time wasted
• Make effective use of space and resources

Companies that have hired offshore teams to help with BIM and design do very well in:

• Hiring new workers
• How well the process works
• Finish the job

The main ideas from Part 2

Teams that make things in other countries can:

• Keep an eye on how much work you have to do.
• Do both hard technical work and work that needs to be done over and over again.
• Make projects better
• Let leaders on the ground have time to focus on important tasks

Offshore teams can be very helpful to a project’s success if they have the right tools, processes, and ways to talk to each other.

Table: Benefits of Having Teams in Other Countries

That’s a Good Point	How It Helps You Do Your Job
Stops traffic jams	People who work on-site can concentrate on making decisions and managing risks.
Takes advantage of time zones	There is always work to be done, and project cycles are 30–50% faster.
The same steps	Less work to do over, fewer mistakes, and easier to review.
Changeable capacity	You can hire more or fewer people without having to pay for the costs of hiring people in your area.
Knowledge of BIM and CAD	Stops RFIs, makes building easier, and gives accurate estimates.
Help with making plans for a project	Keeps an eye on costs, schedules, and follows the rules.
Tools for today’s world	Working together, reporting, and talking to each other in real time.
Innovation that is planned	More work gets done, deliveries are more reliable, and people can get better at what they do.

How to make the most of offshore construction teams, figure out your return on investment (ROI), and make plans for the future

When construction companies stop testing offshore teams and start using them full-time, the focus shifts from whether they work to how to use them well, manage them well, and measure their performance.

Top companies don’t just see offshore teams as extra workers; they see them as important parts of planning, running, and keeping track of performance.

From hiring people for a short time to making plans for the future

In the past, companies hired people based on what the project needed at the time:

• Get more help when you have more work to do
• Let workers go when projects are done

This method has some problems:

• Times when there aren’t enough people on the job
• Workers who are worn out
• Not as good

Modern way: Ask yourself how to make smart plans for your workers by

• Which workflows need to be the same, correct, and able to be repeated?
• Where are senior staff working too hard on things that don’t matter?
• What skills are hard to find in your area but are necessary for the project’s success?

The result is stable, measurable offshore jobs that help you reach your long-term goals instead of just getting things done on time.

How to Grow Offshore Teams Successfully: Staged Deployment

Step 1: Find things to do that don’t require you to be in the country.

Pay attention to things that are:

• Based on computers
• Is based on a process and can be done over and over again
• Always check that the inputs and outputs are the same.

Things that people often do outside of the country:

• Writing things down and keeping track of them
• Modelling with BIM
• Finding out how much things cost
• Following the rules and keeping track of things

Goal: Do the same tasks every day so that core teams can focus on making big choices.

Step 2: Pilot Programs (for 90 days)

Do small, controlled tests to find out:

• How well people talk to each other
• The quality and consistency of the work
• Working with teams and workflows in the field
• Things like tools and information are safe

What Pilots Can Do for You:

• Before scaling, make sure to look over the SOPs, review cycles, and escalation processes.

Step 3: Put things together and let them grow.

When teams that work offshore meet their goals:

• Give them more work to do
• Include them in planning cycles, review meetings, and efforts to always make things better.
• Treat workers from other countries like long-term partners

Figuring out ROI beyond the cost of labour

1. Return on Investment Over Time

• Drawing, changing, and approving faster
• Less time spent waiting to get to work

Pros:

• More bids that are competitive
• More money without lowering the quality

2. Making things safer and better

•  Standardizing modeling and documentation cuts down on:
•  Making mistakes and having to do things again
•  Requesting Information
•  Accidents
•  Projects are more likely to meet quality standards.

3. Making Senior Staff Better

Let senior staff take a break from boring work so they can focus on:

•  Taking charge
•  Working together
•  Dealing with risk

Results: projects that go more smoothly and employees who stay with the company longer

Governance, Compliance, and Risk

Important parts:

•  Contracts that are clear and easy to follow
•  Only a few people can access and protect data
•  Keeping intellectual property safe
•  Paths for audits and reports

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and workflows make sure that teams working on the water follow the same rules and quality standards as teams working on land.

Putting together and keeping different cultures

Here are the best ways to do things:

•  Programs that teach new team members how to do their jobs
•  Learning how to be aware of other cultures
•  Give praise and feedback regularly
•  Going to meetings to plan and go over things

What took place:

•  More trust, involvement, and staying power
•  People think of offshore teams as partners, not just suppliers.

Technology gives teams that work from other countries more power.

Workflows that use AI

AI can help with:

•  Checking the quality of models and drawings on their own
•  Assessing and predicting risk
•  Comparing the costs
•  Making sure everything is in order

Effect: Planning, coordinating, and reporting get 40 to 45 percent better.

BIM 2.0 and Digital Twins

•  Teams on the other side of the ocean run digital models in real time
•  Helps with keeping track of the lifecycle of assets, operations, and maintenance

Future Standard: Teams from around the world with different jobs

Being on the Team	Most Important Things to Do
On the site	Doing things, staying safe, being a leader, and working together
In other places	Modelling, estimating, drafting, reporting, and other things that can be done over and over again

Pros:

•  Cycles of productivity that never end
•  Capacity that can change
•  Learn from experts from all over the world
•  Important decisions are made close to home

Resilience is a part of the workforce strategy.

Businesses can get help from offshore teams with:

•  Request changes
•  There aren’t enough workers
•  Laws and rules that are always changing

The main benefits are

•  Add more workers without hiring people from the area
•  Get skills that are hard to find
•  Make sure things keep going even when there aren’t a lot of people around.
•  Don’t depend on just one job market as much

Partnerships with a goal

Partners who are good at certain things can:

•  Hire skilled workers from all over the world
•  Make tools and workflows
•  Make sure you follow the rules of the industry and the company’s goals.

Kinetic Innovative Staffing, for instance, helps businesses keep an eye on their workers while they put together teams.

Key Points

Companies do the following to get the most out of their offshore teams:

•  Thinking of them as investments that will pay off in the long run
•  Watching ROI, quality, and the effects of leadership
•  Getting teams involved in the switch to digital
•  Getting people to work for you before they come to you

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Do only large corporations require teams that operate from foreign nations?
   • No. Small and medium-sized businesses also benefit, especially when it comes to planning and running the business.
2. What kinds of jobs are good for teams that work from home?
   •  BIM modelling, drawing, estimating, making schedules, and keeping track of papers
3. How long will it take to notice changes?
   •  Most businesses notice improvements in speed and efficiency within 90 days.
4. Does the quality change when you work offshore?
   • No. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and processes help things stay the same and cut down on the need to do things again.
5. Is it a time zone issue?
   • No. If you know how to use them, they keep workflows going and speed up delivery.
6. How do you protect your information?
   •  By keeping an eye on compliance, using access rules, safe platforms, and contracts
7. Do workers who work offshore move?
   • Not very often. They help onshore teams from afar, letting local staff focus on the most important things.

Resources

• Travellers: Skilled Labor Shortages in Construction
• Fixr: Construction Workforce Shortages, Wages, and Worker Conditions
• Business Insider / Harvard: Immigrant Workers in U.S. Construction
• NAIOP: Addressing the Workforce Skills Gap in Construction
• Daily Telegraph: NSW Infrastructure Worker Shortage by 2027
• ConstructionOwners.com: Bridging the Skills Gap in Construction