Balfour Beatty is planning to add 2,000 people to its UK workforce over the next two years, giving a sizeable boost to jobs linked to the country’s infrastructure programme.
About half of the new roles are expected to go to early-career workers through apprenticeships, graduate programmes, internships and trainee positions. The construction group currently employs around 14,000 people in the UK and plans to increase that total to 16,000.
1,000 opportunities for people starting out
Balfour Beatty said apprentices, graduates, interns and trainees make up about 9 per cent of its UK workforce at present. On current projections, that figure will rise to around 12.7 per cent by the end of 2027.
The recruitment drive comes as the firm’s order book grows. Balfour Beatty reported revenue growth of 24 per cent in the first half of 2026 and has a £2.1 billion UK Power Transmission order book, alongside a further identified pipeline worth between £6 billion and £8 billion.
The company said the extra staff would help it deliver major infrastructure projects, with energy infrastructure the main driver. Its work for electricity network owners includes overhead lines, underground cabling, substations, converter stations and distribution networks.
Demand for infrastructure skills
Balfour Beatty expects its UK workforce to have grown by more than 30 per cent over four years by the end of 2027. It said the expansion reflected the need for more capacity and technical expertise as infrastructure work increases.
Chief executive Philip Hoare said the country’s infrastructure plans would depend on having the people and skills needed to deliver them. The company also described the expansion as a vote of confidence in the UK market.
The jobs announcement comes as youth employment remains a challenge. Office for National Statistics figures showed that 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 were not in education, employment or training between April and June 2026 — around one in eight people in that age group.
Balfour Beatty’s UK recruitment plans will not be affected by staff reductions elsewhere in the global business, a company spokesman said.
Why this is good news for Britain
The plans offer around 1,000 early-career routes into construction and infrastructure, helping people gain practical experience and technical skills. The wider expansion will also give Balfour Beatty more capacity to work on electricity network projects across the UK.
