As part of the first Highways Live Cymru event that took in September, Highways hosted a breakout session for the next generation of the sector: Highways NextGen Next Steps. George Barker reports.

Highways is often told about the challenge of recruiting and retaining new workers and the increasing skills gap caused by ageing workers retiring before being able to pass on generations of on-the-job knowledge. So, we decided to do something about this.

Our first step was to create the Highways NextGen Board, made up of around 15 young professionals. The idea was to give the board members and the magazine itself a real learning and knowledge-sharing experience.

We then hosted a dedicated agenda in a breakout room at our Highways Live event in Wales, which gathered the NextGen Board and newcomers to the sector. Attendees heard from three presenters – new to the sector and experienced – who shared their thoughts on the skills gap and some possible solutions to overcoming some obstacles.

Blayne Cahill, director of highways and infrastructure at industry recruiter Carrington West, spoke about recruiting and retaining the next generation. With experience speaking to vast numbers of people looking for jobs, one of the biggest obstacles that Mr Cahill has witnessed is the drop in graduate vacancies – which he stated has faced a decrease of 46% year on year. 

‘What a lot of our clients are saying is they're looking for efficiencies at the moment. If you dig a little deeper, efficiencies mean "we think we might have some automation, some AI, replace that head count cost of bringing in a graduate", and that concerns us. It's a cost-saving opportunity,' he said. 

He also noted that ‘job seekers are very frustrated at the level of automation and AI in the application screening process' but added that employers are getting ‘increasingly frustrated' at the number of AI-generated applications they are receiving. 

The advice he gave to those in attendance to tackle this was simple – do things to stand out more. By not having an application generated by the same AI model, you will avoid having an application or CV that looks or sounds the same as every other application, and you will stick in recruiters' minds.

The next presentation came from Ellie Gormley, a retired highway engineer and an honorary fellow of the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE), who shared her experiences of mentoring and the benefits it can lend to developing a career.

Ms Gormley highlighted that though mentoring may have changed with the times, virtual mentoring can be just as valuable and still offer the guidance that is needed to advance your career. She also stressed it is ‘always good to get somebody within your organisation'.

She highlighted that mentoring does not have to be one way. Formalised under the term reverse mentoring, new entrants can have something to teach senior figures as they may be more familiar with social changes, new technologies or novel approaches to tasks.

The final presentation of the morning was given by the Highways NextGen Board's own Liv Blood. As a marketing degree apprentice at Boundary Marketing, Ms Blood was ideally placed to discuss some of the different paths into the sector. 

Sharing her thoughts on the event, Ms Blood said: ‘The NextGen session at Highways Live Cymru was a real highlight for me. It's rare to get a room full of people at a similar stage in their careers, and being able to share experiences, swap ideas and collaborate was incredibly valuable.

'It was great to then share those conversations with a wider audience afterwards, and I came away with new perspectives and a real sense that the future of the sector is in good hands.'

As Ms Blood described it in her presentation, highways is a ‘sector hidden in plain sight', with many potential new entrants simply not knowing about the opportunities. Indeed, even among the guests and NextGen board members there were many who had ‘fallen into' the sector, rather than directly seeking it out.

This became a key discussion point, as attendees developed a plan for practical change to position highways as an active career choice. Following guidance provided by Georgia Kittle from SRL, options such as video, social media and in-person marketing were considered. 

Attendees developed a plan for practical change to position highways as an active career choice. This concluded with a panel presentation to close out the primary Highways Live Cymru session, during which four representatives shared the group's thoughts with sector leaders.

One of the panel members, Anna Prescot, an assistant quantity surveyor for National Highways and member of the Highways NextGen Board, said: ‘As an early careers professional emerging within the highways and infrastructure sector, Highways Live Cymru gave me great insight into the industry and its operations.

‘The shared passion of the other early careers members in the room was truly infectious, and the discussions around the longevity of the sector left me feeling fulfilled and optimistic.

‘By bringing together early careers and providing a platform to learn, share perspectives and create new industry connections, Highways Live 2026 really made an impact.'

Afua Essel, project engineer at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, added: ‘It was such a privilege to be part of the Highways Live NextGen session.

‘It was a day which truly captured an industry-wide desire to create space for the next generation and be part of a movement of professionals supporting young people's curiosity and resilience; characteristics that will shape an innovative generation.'

The panel discussion ended with a potent question to the audience: what are they doing to help make the sector more accessible to those at the start of their careers?