Map the Gap · Built Environment Survey

The skills gap won't close until both sides of it are heard.

Employers see empty roles. Employees see stalled careers. Same gap, two sides, and nobody's ever asked both at once. That changes now.

Complete the survey · Takes 3 minutes · Entry into a prize draw
Fill out the survey Why this matters
Why this matters

A century-old gap, at a scale rarely mapped

Nearly 100 years old

A 1934 report on the built environment workforce wouldn't look out of place in this year's headlines. What's changed isn't the problem. It's the scale.

Fewer than 1 in 10

Young people who even recognise the term "built environment" (NLA, 2025). They're not choosing other careers. They don't know this one exists.

Not a passion problem

People already inside the industry aren't leaving because the work doesn't interest them. They're leaving because nobody's shown them where it leads.

Cobalt sits between both sides of this industry every day. Map the Gap is that vantage point, for the first time, put to work for the whole sector, not just our own clients.
Two surveys, three minutes each

Which side of the gap are you on?

For employers

You're the one with the empty desk.

  • Roles sitting open for months
  • AI is quietly making your skills irrelevant
  • Apprentices leaving before they've found their feet
  • Talent that won't relocate just to progress

Tell us where your real shortfalls are and what's shaping your pay and retention decisions.

Complete the employer survey
For employees

You're the one wondering what's next.

  • What similar roles might pay elsewhere
  • A career path that sometimes feels unclear
  • How AI might be subtly influencing your role

Tell us how secure you feel, what factors are influencing your next steps and what you'd truly like instead.

Complete the employee survey

This isn't another report that gathers dust. Every response feeds directly into an upcoming sector-wide event, shaping hiring strategy, retention strategy and the policy conversations that decide what happens next.

THE MORE RESPONSES → THE HARDER TO IGNORE
Employers · Employees · Same conversation

The built environment has spent a century diagnosing itself. This is the chance to finally act on what it hears.

Two surveys. Three minutes. One shared picture of a problem that's waited long enough.

Complete the survey