Newsroom
Cyprus may be building nonstop, but the people needed to actually do the building are running out.
That was the blunt message construction contractors delivered to Labor Minister Marinos Mousiouttas this week, warning that the sector is facing a serious labor shortage that could soon start affecting projects, timelines and costs.
In a meeting held on Monday, December 22, the Federation of Cyprus Building Contractors Associations (OSEOK) told the minister that fewer people from the local workforce are choosing construction jobs, leaving companies short-handed and increasingly reliant on workers from outside the EU.
OSEOK President Stelios Gavriil said the situation has reached a point where traditional solutions are no longer enough. One of the ideas put on the table, and likely the most controversial, was to allow asylum seekers to work legally in construction for a limited period under special permits.
The argument is simple: regulated access to work would reduce undeclared labor, ease pressure on employers, and bring more order to a market that is already stretched thin.
The federation also raised concerns about how foreign workers are classified and trained. It proposed that employees from third countries be treated as “newcomers” until they gain the necessary skills, with clearer professional categories and qualifications that reflect what workers can actually do on site.
Training, OSEOK said, should be strengthened through the KEPO Training Center, which was created jointly by the federation and trade unions to better prepare workers for the realities of modern construction.
Safety was also part of the discussion. Contractors urged the government to reintroduce subsidy schemes that would help companies replace outdated equipment, arguing that newer machinery would significantly improve health and safety conditions on construction sites.
OSEOK told the minister it is ready to actively contribute to policy discussions but warned that without swift decisions, the labor gap risks becoming permanent and that cranes don’t move, and buildings don’t rise, without people to build them.
