Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Construction Professionals’ Skills: A Case Study of Chile

Felipe Araya, Katherine Olivari, Luis A. Salazar, Omar Sánchez, Leonardo Sierra-Varela () and Briguitte Neculman
Additional contact information
Felipe Araya: Departamento de Obras Civiles, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaíso 2390123, Chile
Katherine Olivari: Departamento de Obras Civiles, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaíso 2390123, Chile
Luis A. Salazar: Departamento de Obras Civiles, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaíso 2390123, Chile
Omar Sánchez: Civil Engineering Department, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá 111711, Colombia
Leonardo Sierra-Varela: Departamento de Ingeniería de Obras Civiles, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 478000, Chile
Briguitte Neculman: Magíster en Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 478000, Chile

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-23

Abstract: The construction industry faced several challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting different aspects of construction projects, such as the financial stability of companies and the mental well-being of professionals. However, there is limited knowledge about how these challenges impacted the skills required by professionals in construction. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze changes in skills required by construction professionals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, we qualitatively analyzed interviews obtained from construction professionals in Chile who worked through the pandemic to study how skills required by construction professionals before the pandemic were impacted during, and after the pandemic. The results indicate that before the pandemic, the most valued skills were related to teamwork, decision-making, planning, and leadership. During the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, skills such as effective communication, computer skills, planning, and stress management were prominent. Regarding the post-pandemic period, interviewees emphasized that construction professionals required mainly adaptability to change, stress management, and planning skills. Our study contributes by identifying changes in the skills required by construction professionals, emphasizing a shift towards skills like digital communication, adaptability, and stress management. Additionally, our study emphasizes planning as the most relevant skill for construction professionals to deal with a highly disruptive event such as the pandemic in construction projects. The study contributed to theorizing the consequences of the pandemic faced by the construction sector in the context of skills required by construction professionals. In practicality, construction managers may use our results to develop strategies to adapt to the post-pandemic context and be prepared for future disruptive events. Ultimately, this will help make the construction industry a more resilient sector.

Keywords: Chilean construction; construction professionals; COVID-19; professional development; qualitative analysis; skill evolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/17/7588/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/17/7588/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:17:p:7588-:d:1469385

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().