Are the ageing workforce satisfied with the construction work environment?

Abstract

The construction industry is experiencing a shortage of workforce and skill gap due to the significant reduction in the younger workers entering the construction industry compared to the exponential number of retiring workers. Providing ageing workforce with a satisfactory construction work environment (CWE) can be one of the ways to encourage them to remain in the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to assess the level of satisfaction of the ageing workers with the CWE. The study adopted a quantitative approach and data was sourced from older construction workers in Edinburgh, Scotland using a questionnaire survey. Factor analysis and mean score analysis were employed to assess the older workers level of satisfaction with the CWE. The study identified five components of the CWE termed as organisational-psychological environment, physical environment, functional environment, policies and practices environment and auxiliary environment. The older workers were most satisfied with the functional environment, followed by the auxiliary environment, policies and practices environment, physical environment and lastly, organisational-psychological environment. The study recommended that the construction industry put in more effort in making the CWE very satisfying to all workers especially the ageing workforce. A very satisfying CWE should compensate and amend the losses accompanying ageing. The authors encourage future studies to explore the relationship between the level of satisfaction with the CWE and the quality of life of the ageing workforce.