The heads of European construction companies are not very optimistic about the near future. Such results were published by the consulting company InterConnection Consulting. It surveyed 208 construction companies and manufacturers of construction products in Europe.
53% of construction industry leaders believe that the volume of construction in Europe will decrease in 2022 and 2023. Only 9% are optimistic and believe that the construction industry will develop.
Two-thirds of respondents do not expect the construction industry to stabilize or normalize until 2024 or later. For 2023, 67% of the surveyed experts predict an increase in construction costs by 30% or more. More than a third say that this year the cost of materials will increase by more than 50%. But, 55% of respondents believe that selling prices will not increase by more than 25% this year. And a quarter of respondents believe that prices will increase by only 15%.
Companies are concerned about it will be able to compensate for the increased cost by the increased cost of their goods or services.
Among the serious problems, companies called the lack of skilled labour. For one-third of managers, the shortage of labour is a significant problem for their company. This problem is critical for 13% of respondents. That is, orders delayed or not accepted at all. But, 12% of companies say they have no problems with skilled workers or lack of labour.
An increase in inflation will lead to an increase in wages.
During 2022, about half of construction companies expect salaries to grow by 8-12%. 35% believe that the salary increase will be even higher. The growth depends on the inflation rate in the country. The average inflation rate in the EU in August was 10.1%. However, there were big differences between the EU countries. In France, the inflation rate was 6.6%, and in Estonia — 25.2%.