## 🏗️ SL Construction Industry Faces Severe Labour Shortage

Sri Lanka's construction sector is struggling with a workforce deficit of 20,000 vacancies, prompting urgent government and industry interventions. • Labour Gap & Foreign Recruitment: Major firms have requested government approval to recruit at least 7,500 foreign workers to bridge the gap. Workers from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh are already active in the sector. • Brain Drain: The shortage is exacerbated by the migration of approximately 1,400 engineers for overseas employment, creating a significant mismatch between skilled and unskilled local labour. • Local Upskilling: To reduce reliance on imported labour, the Ministry and CIDA aim to train 10,000 local workers. The goal is to provide NVQ-standard training with targeted monthly earnings of approximately Rs. 100,000 to ensure job security and professionalism. • Material Costs & Alternatives: River Sand costs have surged to ~Rs. 33,000 per cube. The government is pushing for the use of 'fine aggregate' (quarry/stone dust) as a cost-effective, SLS-certified alternative. Plans are underway to establish dedicated brick manufacturing zones to stabilize supply chains. The government maintains a multi-pronged approach, balancing foreign recruitment with local capacity building to support the national infrastructure drive. 📈 ---