New insights into career-related continuous learning in construction companies: Supervisor conceptions of career support

Abstract

In a time when the construction industry shares the challenge of labour shortage, more attention should be paid to how attractive careers in the construction field are in the first place. The constantly evolving working environment is causing significant changes in careers and career management in the field, leading to the need to explore company practices that can contribute to the development of fulfilling careers. In this research, we investigated how supervisors in construction companies perceive career support for their employees. This was a phenomenographic study in which 23 supervisors of five construction companies in Finland were interviewed. The analysis showed that the supervisors’ perceptions could be categorized into six support types varying between company, professionally, and individually oriented perspectives. Based on the analysis, needs for continuous learning in the construction field can be identified more broadly, highlighting also the various opportunities to advance careers in the field.