KPMG’s research paints a picture of an industry balancing optimism with increasing pressure.

According to the survey, 71% of construction executives are optimistic about the industry’s direction, reflecting strong demand across infrastructure, utilities, energy and other construction markets. At the same time, 75% report becoming equally or significantly more risk-averse over the previous 12 months.

This tension is central to what KPMG calls the paradox of progress. Construction organizations see opportunities for growth, but they are also navigating rising costs, complex projects, supply chain pressures and uncertainty that make investment decisions increasingly consequential.

Against that backdrop, operational efficiency and profitability have emerged as leading priorities, with 75% of respondents identifying them as strategically important. Technology and innovation are also high on the agenda, with 61% recognizing their importance to future growth.

The challenge is no longer simply identifying which technologies can improve construction delivery. Organizations must determine how to integrate those technologies into their operations, connect workflows and equip their teams to use new capabilities consistently across projects.

KPMG’s findings suggest that workforce development, digital systems and evolving delivery models need to work together rather than operate as separate transformation initiatives.

Technology investment creates opportunity. Workforce capability determines how effectively organizations can act on it.

One of the most important findings in KPMG’s report is that 55% of respondents consider skilled labor shortages and managerial or technical capability gaps among their biggest challenges.

This is about more than finding enough people to deliver projects. KPMG identifies outdated skills, talent retention and an aging workforce as three major contributors to the industry’s growing capability gap.

As construction organizations introduce new digital tools, connected project systems, automation and more advanced delivery methods, employees are being asked to continually adapt. Yet workforce capabilities are not always evolving at the same pace as the technologies organizations are investing in.

For construction teams, that gap can affect how consistently technology is used across projects, how quickly employees adapt to new workflows and how effectively organizations share expertise between experienced professionals and newer team members.

It also creates challenges for organizations trying to scale. When critical knowledge remains with a limited number of experienced employees, maintaining consistency becomes more difficult as teams expand, projects change, and new technologies are introduced.

KPMG emphasizes that without sufficient digital fluency, organizations risk slower delivery, weaker returns on technology investment and missed opportunities to improve their operations.

The implication is clear: closing digital skills gaps is not simply a training objective. It is increasingly a requirement for improving construction performance.

Encouragingly, KPMG’s research shows that construction leaders are recognizing the importance of workforce development.

82% of respondents plan to increase investment in employee training and development, while 76% identify workforce capabilities as critical to their strategic priorities.

The report also finds that people-related initiatives account for approximately 21% of total transformation investment, the largest share among the investment categories identified.

These findings reflect an important recognition across the industry: organizations cannot expect technology alone to deliver transformation. Their people need the skills and confidence to use it effectively.

But increasing training investment raises another important question.

How can construction organizations ensure that training translates into meaningful workforce capability and technology adoption?

Traditional approaches to training can struggle to keep pace with the speed of change. Software evolves, project requirements differ, organizational standards are updated, and employees need answers while they are actively working, not only during scheduled training sessions.

A course may introduce a new technology, but employees also need to understand how that technology applies to their company’s standards, processes and project-specific workflows.

This creates an opportunity to think about learning differently: not as an occasional activity, but as a continuous capability that connects people with the knowledge they need throughout their work.

The goal is not simply to provide more training. It is to make trusted, relevant and up-to-date knowledge easier to access, learn and apply.

Another important theme throughout KPMG’s report is the need to move beyond isolated digital initiatives toward more connected operations.

Construction organizations increasingly rely on a combination of software, project data, internal standards, procedures and experienced professionals to deliver their work. Yet the knowledge needed to use those resources effectively can remain scattered across different systems, departments and individuals.

An experienced project manager may understand how a particular workflow should be followed. A BIM or technology leader may know how software should be configured to meet company standards. Project teams develop valuable lessons through everyday challenges, while internal documentation captures processes and requirements that are essential to consistent delivery.

When that information is difficult to find, maintain or share, employees can struggle to apply technology consistently, even when the tools themselves are available.

This is especially important in construction, where teams may work across multiple projects, locations, technologies and delivery environments.

KPMG’s findings reinforce the importance of connecting workforce development with digital systems and processes. Organizations need to make sure employees can access the right knowledge and guidance, understand how it applies to their work and continue developing their skills as technologies and project requirements change.

The opportunity is to turn organizational knowledge into a scalable resource that supports people in the flow of work, rather than leaving it scattered across systems or dependent on individual expertise.

KPMG’s findings present construction leaders with a practical challenge. If workforce capabilities are essential to business priorities and training investment is increasing, organizations need a way to connect that investment with the technologies, workflows and projects their people use every day.

That starts with asking how employees will learn new technologies, how company-specific processes will be incorporated into training and how trusted expertise can be shared across teams.

It also means considering how organizations will identify digital skills gaps, provide targeted learning and keep knowledge current as technology and project requirements evolve.

These questions are particularly relevant for construction organizations that depend on a wide range of digital tools, from design and coordination applications to project management, documentation and construction delivery platforms.

Employees need more than generic software knowledge. They need to understand how to use those tools within the context of their organization’s standards, project requirements and established workflows.

Addressing that need requires a more connected approach to learning, one that brings together technology, trusted organizational knowledge and workforce development.

Rather than treating training as a separate step in technology implementation, organizations can make it part of the infrastructure that supports adoption, consistency and continuous improvement.

This is where Global eTraining is focused.

Trusted by leading architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing firms worldwide, Global eTraining’s AI-powered digital adoption platform helps organizations elevate human potential and accelerate workforce readiness by connecting people with the trusted knowledge, skills and guidance they need to confidently put technology to work.

For construction organizations, that means helping teams build practical skills across the technologies and workflows they rely on, while connecting industry and software learning with the company and project-specific knowledge that makes training relevant to their everyday work.

Global eTraining enables organizations to convert trusted company and project-specific information into actionable knowledge, access dynamic project procedures in the flow of work and close digital skills gaps through AI assessments, insights and learning paths.

Instead of knowledge remaining scattered across courses, documents, systems or individual subject-matter experts, organizations can make it accessible and actionable for the people who need it.

This approach also recognizes that construction organizations do not all work the same way. Their projects, processes, standards and technology environments differ, which is why training must be able to reflect the realities of how their teams actually operate.

Global eTraining combines an extensive library of technical learning content with the ability to incorporate trusted organizational knowledge, helping companies create learning experiences that are relevant to their own workflows and project requirements.

And because construction technology continues to evolve, learning needs to evolve alongside it. Global eTraining empowers learners with consumable and up-to-date training that is just enough, just in time and just for them, helping employees continuously develop the knowledge and skills needed to keep pace.

The result is more than access to training. It is a knowledge infrastructure that drives technology adoption at scale, helping organizations reduce inconsistency, reduce rework and reduce risk while maximizing the value of their technology investments.

For an industry increasingly focused on productivity, efficiency and workforce development, that connection between technology and people is becoming essential.

KPMG’s Global Construction Survey 2026 makes one thing particularly clear: the construction industry recognizes that transformation is necessary, but achieving it will depend on more than technology investment alone.

With workforce capabilities identified as a critical business priority and more than eight in ten respondents planning to increase training investment, construction leaders are signaling that developing their people is central to improving performance.

The opportunity now is to ensure those investments create lasting organizational capability.

That means connecting workforce development with technology adoption, making trusted company and project knowledge accessible and giving employees the skills and guidance they need to confidently perform their work.

At Global eTraining, we believe the organizations best positioned for this next phase will be those that connect technology, trusted knowledge and people, transforming training from a periodic activity into an intelligent, scalable knowledge infrastructure that evolves alongside their workforce, projects and technology.

Because ultimately, construction transformation isn’t just about the technology organizations invest in.

It’s about what their people are equipped to do with it.

Meet with Global eTraining to learn more.