I watched students walk through a working construction site last week—not a tour, but the real thing. Willmott Dixon’s preview of Open Doors 2026 at their £48.8 million Queen Mary University project gave Construction Management students access to see the industry as it is.
What struck me wasn’t the machinery or the scale. It was how many students didn’t know construction had careers beyond hard hats and hammers.
The Numbers
The UK construction industry needs to recruit 47,860 extra workers per year through 2029—nearly 240,000 workers over five years.
The industry already brings in around 200,000 people annually. But it loses 210,000. The pipeline leaks faster than it fills.
Open Doors responds to that reality. Last year, 7,000 visitors attended across 260 events. Around 88% of visitors said they’d be more likely to consider a career in construction after their visit.
Why It Works
Most recruitment initiatives describe opportunities. Open Doors shows them. Students stand inside active sites, see the range of roles beyond stereotypes, and meet people doing the work. The program emphasizes 180+ different careers in construction—designers, engineers, project managers, sustainability specialists.
Willmott Dixon, ranked as Europe’s 4th best place to work and the UK’s highest-ranked contractor in diversity leadership, isn’t just opening sites. They’re showing what construction can look like when done right.
The Gap
Just 5.4% of construction workers are from Black, Asian, or ethnic minority backgrounds. Women make up 15% of the industry and 2% of onsite workforces.
Open Doors creates access, but I kept asking: access to what? If students visit sites and still see workforces that don’t reflect them, does visibility alone change anything? The initiative partners with organizations like Black Professionals in Construction, which suggests awareness of the problem. But awareness isn’t transformation.
The question isn’t whether open doors help. It’s whether the industry is ready to rebuild what’s behind them.
What I Learned
The industry needs more people and different people. Open Doors addresses both by making construction visible to audiences who’ve been systematically excluded. The model removes abstraction, creates direct pathways between education and employment, and lets candidates see reality.
Registration for Open Doors 2026 is now open for employers. The initiative runs industry-wide, giving construction companies a coordinated platform to showcase their work.
The industry needs 240,000 workers by 2029. Open Doors might deliver them. But if those workers arrive and find the same culture, the same demographics, the same barriers—will they stay?
That’s what I’ll be watching when those doors open in 2026.