It’s no exaggeration to say that today’s contractors are operating under increasingly difficult conditions. Costs keep rising, skilled labor shortages persist, while competition remains as fierce as ever.  

To better understand this landscape, Contractor Training Center (CTC) conducted a detailed industry study, surveying hundreds of contractors over the last few months. Our top-level finding is that the most common skills gaps are not related to technical know-how, but rather administrative, managerial, and back-office functions. This includes price estimating, project management, financial controls, and workforce development.

Identifying these gaps, and more crucially, bridging them, is the first step to building teams that can meet today’s construction demands with more consistency, less stress, and greater profitability. 

One of the clearest findings from CTC’s survey is how strongly business functions outrank technical skills as development needs. Nearly half of respondents—45 percent—rank accurate job estimating as their top area for improvement, outpacing those who prioritize technical trade training (34 percent). 

Estimating rises to the top for good reason. With material and labor prices still fluctuating and scopes becoming more complex, even small errors can squeeze profits. Many contractors told us they trust their crews to do the work but feel less confident about pricing jobs in a way that protects their margins.

Financial oversight shows similar strain. Roughly a third of respondents struggle with pricing profitably (33 percent) and job costing or accounting (35 percent). These early decisions set the tone for the entire job. If they’re wrong, crews spend the rest of the project fighting uphill against avoidable cost overruns.

All of this reflects the modern role of general contractors. Running a job today means balancing technical knowledge with budgeting, forecasting, and day-to-day operational control. Those responsibilities can’t be picked up through trial and error alone. They call for training that reflects the real pressures contractors face on modern projects. 

PROJECT-MANAGEMENT GAPS ARE UNDERMINING PERFORMANCE

A second theme in the data is the weight of project-management responsibilities. Among the contractors we surveyed, 42 percent said project management is a top training priority, and 29 percent pointed to scheduling and coordination as a specific pain point. Those gaps show up in the field as miscommunication, missed deadlines, and rework, all of which strain client relationships and already-thin margins.

In our experience, these issues usually trace back to inconsistent processes or poorly defined workflows and monitoring, rather than lack of effort. Many contractors still rely on a mix of old habits, personal shortcuts, and partially adopted software tools. That patchwork approach makes it difficult to plan work in the right order, keep subcontractors aligned, or maintain paperwork from job to job.

Contractors also told us they’re increasingly using construction-management apps, mobile project tools, and management software with greater frequency. While these tools are becoming more standard, they only reduce friction when teams understand how they fit into everyday workflows.

Several practical steps can help close these gaps. Standardizing job processes and paperwork gives crews clearer expectations as they move between sites, reducing confusion and rework. Strengthening scheduling fundamentals—planning, sequencing, and backlog management—gives both office and field teams a steadier handle on daily operations.

None of these steps require a major overhaul; they simply require steady practice and training that bring order and predictability to how jobs are managed.

REACTIVE TRAINING LIMITS CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE

Our research also revealed a mismatch between the problems contractors face and the training they pursue. While 30 percent report difficulty finding qualified labor, only 28 percent are investing in training tied to hiring, retention, or broader workforce management. This suggests that many contractors only focus on training once issues have already grown.

That reactive pattern causes predictable problems: high turnover, uneven work quality, and recurring bottlenecks in scheduling and estimating. In many cases, the frustration isn’t that contractors don’t provide access to training programs, but that training happens too late to prevent failures upstream.

A better approach starts with an honest look at your team’s strengths and gaps. Contractors who regularly compare crew capabilities to upcoming project demands can get ahead of trouble before it shows up on the jobsite. This kind of assessment also makes it easier to spot the issues that surface year after year. If estimating accuracy, project coordination, or scheduling consistently slow operations, those areas should rise to the top of the training list well before the busy season.

Digital skills deserve the same attention. According to our data, 43 percent of contractors have used construction-management apps in the last year, while 33 percent have used project-management software. Meanwhile, more cutting-edge tools are also gaining traction, with 32 percent of contractors using AI tools, 29 percent using building information modelling (BIM) software, and 24 percent using drones.

However, while tech adoption is generally a net positive, crews must be trained in how to use these tools effectively to ensure the investment provides a return.

Putting these pieces together helps contractors get out of constant “scramble mode” and build a steadier pipeline of skilled people, easing day-to-day pressure on both field and office crews. 

WHERE CONTRACTORS GO FROM HERE

CTC’s findings point to a clear conclusion: Business, financial, and project-management skills now matter just as much as technical proficiency, and in many cases, more. For general contractors working in a tight, competitive market, these capabilities increasingly determine who stays profitable and who struggles to keep projects on track.

Closing these gaps doesn’t require sweeping changes. The most effective steps are targeted and practical: Sharpen estimating skills, strengthen project management fundamentals, and properly train teams to use the digital tools that are becoming standard across the industry.

Contractors who take a proactive approach to developing these capabilities will be better positioned to stabilize their crews, protect their margins, and deliver work with more consistency in the years ahead.

about the author

Patrick Hayes is general manager at Contractor Training Center by Colibri Group, an online platform that has helped thousands of professionals in construction, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and more achieve their licensing goals.