Despite record employment, the U.S. construction industry faces a severe skilled labor shortage, driving up costs and delays. Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) improves productivity and safety, but adoption is slowed by a lack of expertise. Concord Academy, founded by AWP expert Olfa Hamdi, offers self-paced online certification to equip professionals with the skills to deliver projects more efficiently and cost-effectively.
WASHINGTON, June 4, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Despite record construction employment—over 8.3 million workers in early 2025—the U.S. industry still needs an estimated 439,000 more skilled workers by year-end to meet rising demand (1). Up to 90% of contractors struggle to find qualified personnel, particularly in skilled trades, causing higher costs, delays, and sometimes cancellations, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reports. (2). To compensate for this reality, contractors and project teams are adopting Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) to boost productivity and safety, but its adoption is limited by a persistent skills gap—lack of expertise, fragmented knowledge, and resistance to change. As Olfa Hamdi, Co-founder & CEO of Concord Construction Academy, notes: "Professional training is the missing link—it's what turns AWP from a concept into a practical, transformative method that organizations can truly own."
The Challenge: AWP Adoption Is Growing, But Expertise Is Lagging
Despite increased interest and gradual adoption of Advanced Work Packaging (AWP), the construction industry continues to face substantial challenges in scaling its benefits. Multiple industry surveys reveal that most construction professionals lack formal training in AWP and field planning, which acts as a major bottleneck for widespread implementation. In the absence of standardized training and certification programs, companies often resort to informal knowledge sharing and experimental approaches, slowing down adoption and undermining the full potential for productivity, safety, cost and schedule savings.
A systematic review published in MDPI (3) and a comprehensive report by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) highlight persistent barriers such as organizational resistance to change, inadequate training resources, and misalignment of processes throughout project lifecycles. The lack of a universally accepted industry standard for work packaging further exacerbates these issues, as noted in benchmarking studies. Collectively, these challenges contribute to a persistent skills gap, limiting the consistent and effective use of AWP and, ultimately, its broader impact on the construction sector.
AWP: 5 Benefits That Improve Results
AWP is more than just a planning tool—it represents a holistic shift in capital project delivery. By systematically breaking down projects into manageable work areas and packages and aligning engineering, procurement, and construction sequences, AWP dramatically improves project predictability, safety, and efficiency:
Increased Productivity: Industry data consistently shows that projects using AWP experience a 25% increase in productivity, driven by better upfront planning and more effective supervision.
- Cost and Schedule Predictability: AWP improves predictability in both cost and schedule, with documented reductions in total installed costs by up to 10% and improved on-time delivery.
- Enhanced Safety: AWP increases safety awareness and performance, reducing exposure to unplanned work and rework, and lowering the likelihood of near misses and unsafe behavior.
- Reduced Field Rework: Implementation of AWP leads to a 20% reduction in field rework by improving communication and alignment between engineering and construction teams.
- Improved Constructability: Early engagement of construction teams in the planning process fosters better constructability input, resulting in cost-saving measures and accelerated schedules.
- Concord Academy: Filling the Gap with Scalable, Role-Specific Training
Recognizing the critical need for standardized AWP training, Olfa Hamdi—a pioneering researcher, author of the AWP Lifecycle Implementation Standard and co-inventor of the AWP methodology through the Construction Industry Institute's RT-272 research team—founded Concord Academy. The academy offers standardized, role-specific AWP courses online and on-demand, aligning with the AWP Standard and global best practices. The curriculum is designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice, empowering project teams at all levels, from early definition to field execution. to implement AWP with confidence and consistency.
Certified Teams Deliver Better Results
Organizations that invest in AWP certification through Concord Academy consistently achieve transformative outcomes. By equipping their teams with standardized, role-specific AWP knowledge, companies report productivity improvements of up to 35%—exceeding the industry average—along with reductions in total project costs by as much as 10% and measurable enhancements in safety performance. Additionally, organizations report substantial decreases in field rework and late changes as well as improved alignment among all project stakeholders, from engineering and procurement to construction and commissioning teams.
Concord Academy's approach is designed to help organizations embed AWP as a core project strategy, building lasting internal capability and empowering teams to sustain improvements across multiple projects. The result is a culture of risk mitigation, constraint management and continuous improvement, where best practices become standard operating procedures and project risks are proactively managed.
Global Reach and Industry Impact
Concord Academy's AWP training has a truly global footprint, with adoption in more than 30 countries across the energy, petrochemical, infrastructure, mining, hydrogen construction and industrial sectors. This widespread use is driving faster, safer, and more predictable capital project delivery worldwide, as organizations of all sizes leverage AWP to overcome common challenges such as labor shortages, cost overruns, and schedule delays.
Concord Academy's international reach underscores its commitment to advancing the construction industry as a whole, promoting the adoption of best practices and fostering innovation across borders. "When organizations invest in AWP training and make it a core part of their culture, they don't just improve project outcomes—they set a new standard for excellence across the entire construction sector.", explains Olfa Hamdi.
As the construction industry continues to grapple with persistent labor shortages and rising project complexity, the importance of AWP as a best practice for project delivery and predictable execution is more critical than ever. By standardizing training and embedding AWP into organizational DNA, Concord Academy is helping the global construction sector build resilience, efficiency, and long-term success in an increasingly competitive environment.
About Olfa Hamdi
Olfa Hamdi is an internationally recognized expert in capital project management, construction excellence, large scale institutional reform and dispute resolution. She holds advanced degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Ecole Centrale de Lille and Texas Law School, and is an engineer, entrepreneur and auditor. Hamdi is the founder of the Advanced Work Packaging Institute and the co-founder and CEO of Concord Project Technologies Inc., which develops innovative project management solutions for global capital projects. She is credited as a co-inventor of the Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) methodology, which has become a global industry standard for improving project predictability, safety, and efficiency.
Concord Academy, led by Olfa Hamdi, provides online, role-specific training and certification in Advanced Work Packaging and Workface Planning. The academy's programs equip professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to implement AWP effectively, driving productivity and cost savings for organizations worldwide. Concord Academy's training is widely adopted across the energy, infrastructure, and industrial sectors, helping companies overcome labor shortages and project execution challenges. Visit her at https://academy.tconglobal.com/
References
- U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. "Industries at a Glance: Construction: NAICS 23." Bls.gov, 29 Oct. 2015, bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag23.htm.
- "Associated Builders and Contractor News Releases." May 19, 2025 -Media/News-Releases/abc-the-construction-industry-needs-501-000-additional-workers-in-2024.
- Slim Rebai, et al. "Barriers to Adopting Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) in Construction." Buildings, vol. 14, no. 4, 8 Apr. 2024, pp. 1032–1032, doi.org/10.3390/buildings14041032.
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