Training and professional gaps in the construction sector in the Canary Islands
The construction sector in the Canary Islands is currently undergoing a period of recovery and transformation, marked by a high demand for activity and employment, but also by important structural limitations that condition its capacity for growth and modernization. Construction plays a strategic role in the economy and the territory of the archipelago, both for its impact on employment and for its contribution to key areas such as housing, infrastructure and the rehabilitation of the building stock.
Despite the existence of a sustained demand for labor, the sector faces serious difficulties in attracting and retaining workers. This situation cannot be explained solely by a lack of training, but is due to a combination of factors that include the social image of the sector, labor turnover, the aging of the working population and mismatches between training and actual working conditions.
The analysis of the labor market shows that the central problem of the sector is not the lack of employment, but rather the shortage of people willing to join and remain in construction. Recruitment difficulties affect practically all professional profiles, from traditional trades to middle management and technicians. Likewise, there is a partial disconnection between the initial qualification and the actual performance on site, which forces companies to undertake additional adaptation and internal training processes. This situation increases business costs and limits the sector’s capacity to respond quickly to production demand.
The training system linked to the construction sector in the Canary Islands presents a wide and diverse offer, but with relevant imbalances in terms of territorial coverage, practical orientation and adaptation to the real needs of the sector. Formal vocational training does not specifically cover many traditional trades, while the Certificates of Professionalism, although essential, have discontinuous programming. University education provides high-level technical profiles, but requires a greater connection with the reality of the work and a more applied orientation. Overall, the training system needs to be strengthened as the backbone of the sector, moving towards more flexible, modular models adapted to the territory.
The study confirms the existence of significant training and professional gaps in the construction trades, in middle management and in profiles linked to digitalization, energy efficiency and rehabilitation. These gaps do not stem exclusively from a lack of training, but from a structural mismatch between training, employment and work organization.