A growing shortage of building workers, including bricklayers and carpenters, is holding back firms as they struggle to keep up with demand for new housing and infrastructure, according to a report. More expensive building materials are also affecting companies, which expect costs to rise by 10 percent over the next year, said the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Its survey of more than 500 chartered surveyors showed growing workloads in the industry, especially for housing and energy projects. Firms in the construction supply chain struggled to keep up with demand amid a shortage of staff to deliver projects, said RICS. Respondents said the construction sector is now broadly recovering well from the COVID-19 pandemic, but concerns were raised about labour shortages, both for skilled labour and white-collar jobs. Many firms questioned said a lack of skilled workers, especially bricklayers and carpenters, will limit new activity. The outlook for profits …