AECCafe Industry Predictions for 2023 – Autodesk

By Allison Scott, Director of Customer Experience & Industry, Autodesk Construction Solutions

Allison Scott

Access to a skilled workforce will continue to challenge the construction industry in 2023. Seasoned professionals are retiring and leaving institutional knowledge gaps within firms. In parallel, the industry is not replacing one-to-one for those leaving, creating a delta for the next generation of construction leaders going forward.

Knowing that the industry cannot attract and retain a workforce fast enough, we have to increase efficiency and effectiveness with advanced digital construction management methods and tools. Digital upskilling and training for specific technology, as well as a broader focus on knowledge sharing, is critical to capture institutional knowledge and IP that is leaving the business due to retirement. We’ll also continue to see more construction firms reduce silos for digital methodologies and pull that skillset and methods across the organization. The knowledge will no longer live within the BIM/VDC or innovation departments – it will be more broadly part of the means and methods of preconstruction and operations. This shift creates compelling opportunities for digital natives to flex their experience to help firms adopt more sophisticated workflows, enabling them to attract and retain emerging leaders due to an increase in career paths that are tech-enabled.

As construction firms look for additional ways to attract and retain new talent, many have also realized the importance of robust training and knowledge sharing programs to nurture a culture of learning and development. According to a recent survey by Deloitte, firms that have high learning cultures have 30–50% higher employee engagement and retention rates. As a result, we’ll also see an increase in user and behavior-based training across the industry. Recognition and gamification of learning to incentivize ongoing development is poised to grow as firms look to entice talent to upskill, stay within the organization, and increase effectiveness.

About Author:  

Leveraging over a decade in the architecture and construction industries, Alli is a “technology translator” who supports customer experience and industry advocacy within the Customer Success team at Autodesk. She oversees the strategy and execution of customer-centric programs that complement the customer journey to help construction teams gain the most value out of their technology investments, and foster loyalty and trust. Alli has been a key contributor for Autodesk’s leading-edge approach to customer engagement, including a highly rated global executive council program, a growing online community, and industry impact programs that help bring awareness to industry issues. Prior to Autodesk, she supported the national Innovation group of Skanska USA’s construction division helping to investigate and integrate game-changing tech like BIM/VDC, wearables, IoT/sensors, and drones onto the jobsite, and built business strategy for new products and services inspired by innovation endeavors. Alli holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Arts Management from Emerson College and an MBA in Innovation and Design Management from Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School. When not exploring the next great emerging tech, Alli can be found tending to her herb garden or spending time along the rocky shores of Massachusetts or lakeside in Maine with her architect-husband and young son.

Category: Industry Predictions

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 14th, 2023 at 5:00 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.