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Skills shortages remain key challenge to infrastructure delivery

Construction and infrastructure workload expectations continue to improve with respondents the most positive since the referendum, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Construction and Infrastructure Market Survey, Q1 2017. The pace of growth has increased across all sectors pointing to a widespread improvement in the sector.

In Q1 2017 27% more respondents reported an increase in workloads, (up from +18% in Q4 2016). Expectations for the next 12 months also remain firmly positive particularly for activity levels although they have reduced slightly in case of profit margins.

The shortage of skilled labour persists in UK infrastructure and construction and is again widely cited by contributors as a factor potentially impacting the performance of businesses working in the industry.

Looking at the different sectors, 34% more respondents cited an increase in private housing output rather than a decrease, which puts it above the other sectors for the pace of growth once again; this has been the case since Q1 2013.

While the commercial sector saw the largest growth in workload for the quarter (compared with Q4 2016) with 31% more respondents seeing a rise, infrastructure workloads continue to grow steadily with the most significant increases in rail, road and energy categories.

These sectors are also viewed as the most promising sectors in infrastructure for the next 12 months. Breaking this down, 60% of respondents felt that repair and maintenance work of existing structures is the most needed type of investment in their area whilst 40% felt investment in new projects was necessary.

Growing skills shortages

As workloads increase, skill shortages are still sighted as a significant problem to the industry with 53% of respondents stating a shortage of skilled labour to be a key impediment to growth.

This is slightly up from 50% in the last quarter. In recent reports, the proportion of respondents noting skill shortages to be the major barrier to growth had come down slightly but the latest results along with surveyors’ comments suggest labour shortage pressure across the UK construction sector is intensifying once more.

Alongside this, 65% of respondents reported insufficient availability of quantity surveyors, with skill shortages in this area becoming increasingly prominent since 2012. The results also point to the quality of available workers (rather than simply the quantity) being the principle driver in skill shortages, with 67% of respondents taking this view.

Looking at this further, 59% of contributors feel that improved education pathways and training would the most effective policy response to alleviate labour supply pressures, whilst 31% of contributors feel direct government subsidisation of training would be the most effective.

Financial constraints and their impact

Meanwhile, financial constraints are still the most significant obstacle to growth with 70% of respondents citing this as an issue. Planning and regulation remains a significant impediment to growth with 61% of respondents citing this as an obstacle (up from 53% in Q4 2016).

At the same time, tender prices are expected rise in the next 12 months. Specifically, 69% more respondents believe tender prices will go up in the building sector (rather than fall). The expected increase in tender prices may signal rising costs and shrinking profit margins which is also reflected in the 12 month expectation of profit margins easing from +26% in Q4 2016 to +18% in Q1 2017.

Regionally all parts of the UK have observed an increase in pace of output growth in Q1, with the exception of Northern Ireland. The was due to the pace of growth slowing within the infrastructure, private industrials and public non-housing sectors. Output growth gathered the most pace in London and the South East where the net balance rose from +7% to +22%.

Jeff Matsu, RICS Senior Economist said “The mood music in the construction sector has improved in line with the better tone to macro data more generally. However the survey does highlight some key challenges that need to be addressed if government’s ambitious plans for housing and infrastructure, in particular, are to be met. Access to finance, alongside planning and skill shortages, both quality and quantity, remain big obstacles to delivery and though some plans are in place to address these issues, it remains to be seen whether they are sufficient to make a meaningful impact.”

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Government needs to take note of worsening construction skills shortage now, warn industry experts

The skills shortage in the construction industry has got worse and has now spread beyond bricklayers and carpenters to other key trades, according to recent research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

The FMB’s State of Trade Survey for Q4 2016 shows that:

  • Almost half of construction SMEs are reporting difficulties hiring roofers (46%)
    Shortages of electricians and plasterers are at their highest point in four years
    The SME construction sector has experienced fifteen consecutive quarters of growth.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said “We’ve been experiencing a severe shortage of bricklayers and carpenters for quite some time – these latest statistics show that skills shortages are now seeping into other key trades such as roofers and plumbers. Indeed, of the 15 key trades and occupations we monitor, 40% show skills shortages at their highest point since we started to feel the effects of the skills crisis in 2013 when the industry bounced back post-downturn. This growing skills deficit is driving up costs for small firms and simultaneously adding to the pressure being felt by soaring material prices linked to the weaker pound.

“The Government needs to be taking note of the worsening construction skills shortage now that we know that the UK will be negotiating a hard Brexit. The Prime Minister must ensure that the immigration system that replaces the free movement of people serves key sectors such as construction and house building. Our sector relies heavily on skilled labour from the EU, with 12% of the British construction workforce being of non-UK origin. As the construction industry represents around 7% of UK GDP, it’s in no one’s interest to pull the rug out from under the sector by introducing an inflexible and unresponsive immigration system.

“On a more positive note, construction SMEs reported steady growth in the final three months of 2016, capping off a generally positive year for the industry. In particular, demand for private refurbishment work was robust throughout 2016 and in terms of private and social house building, builders expect workloads to grow in the first three months of 2017. However, if the Government wants the objectives of its Housing White Paper to be realised, it will need to ensure the construction sector has the skilled workers it needs to build these new homes.”

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Theresa May’s industrial strategy “must address Brexit skills impact”

When Theresa May became Prime Minister, she announced that the UK government would develop an ‘industrial strategy’ to deliver a modern, innovative and competitive economy. Leading international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty are warning the government that projects such as HS2 run the risk of losing valued foreign workers post-Brexit unless tackling the skills shortage is made high priority within the strategy.

In Balfour Beatty’s latest publication entitled “Industrial Strategy: A Vision for Growth,” they highlighted that that around 2.2 million EU nationals working within the UK have helped make up a skilled workforce that the UK would be unable to source alone, should the free movement of labour be compromised.

The paper suggests that the heightened uncertainty surrounding EU labour in a post-referendum Britain risks causing severe recruitment and staffing difficulties. This in turn could lead to increased costs where demand for labour outstrips supply, resulting in long delays – especially on big projects such as HS2 and Hinkley Point.

The report says “An early and integrated policy response to both retain the skills of those who have migrated here and to ensure that the UK remains an attractive place for talented people to reside should be a key element of Government’s industrial strategy.”

Homegrown talent

Balfour Beatty has also stressed the importance of attracting and retaining new talent from inside the UK if we are to successfully thrive in a UK outside of the EU.

“The Government’s industrial strategy should also seek to address the skills shortage in the UK directly, by continuing to support the upskilling of our own workforce. If we want a successful industrial strategy then we must invest in the people who will deliver it, so skills, the investment in human capital, must be a priority in the industrial strategy. In this vein, we welcome Government’s plans to increase the number of apprentices by 3 million and introduce the Apprenticeship Levy.”

“However, we do not believe that the apprenticeship levy alone will be enough to meet the shortfall in skilled workers the infrastructure industry needs. To effectively resolve these skilling issues, we believe it’s necessary that for a collegiate approach to agree a clearly defined programme, designed through close interaction and genuine dialogue between government, industry and representative bodies, such as the Construction Leadership Council. Most importantly, the strategy should be adhered to over the long-term as we see in other countries such as Germany.”

Read the full report here.
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Skills, not Brexit, the main threat to construction industry

Worsening skills shortages, rather than uncertainty over Brexit, are the main threat to the UK construction industry, according to leading recruitment company for the construction industry.

A number of commentators have suggested that the main threat to the industry is the knock on effects of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. However, an analysis by the construction and rail recruitment specialist found that a lack of skills poses the biggest potential risk to future productivity.

Paul Payne, managing director of One Way, comments “While numerous people have suggested that Brexit presents challenges to the construction industry, the idea is actually a bit of a red herring and we’ve seen little change since the result except for some natural hesitation brought on by the ‘Armageddon scenarios’ being pumped into the market. We’re as busy now as we were before the referendum and the real issue – the crippling lack of skilled professionals in this country – is being overlooked because of all the noise around Brexit.

“Yes, the construction industry has benefited from being part of the EU as it has given the sector access to a lot of workers who have moved over and have filled lower skilled roles, however we’ve never seen any great influx of skilled professionals who can work as design managers or quantity surveyors, for example. These people are needed across the entire industry and in related fields like civil engineering and currently there are far, far too few of them. More robust and well prepared hiring firms like ourselves will always have the resources to be able to pluck individual experts from the EU regardless of changes to freedom of movement laws, but in reality there is no quick fix. The only solution is to focus on ‘growing our own’, for example, through targeting more apprentices and youngsters at school level as well as widening the scope of people who are potentially interested in working in the industry to include more women and professionals from diverse backgrounds. Even at the moment when there are a number of major projects being put on hold there simply aren’t enough people in the market to meet demand. Imagine what the situation will be like when the economy picks up and they’re given the green light. Ultimately, something needs to happen quickly as we’re rapidly approaching a breaking point where productivity will be affected.”

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We must make tackling the skills shortage a priority, urges industry

Construction professionals have stressed how despite the fallout following Brexit, we must focus our efforts on combatting the looming skills crisis by prioritising the introduction of new initiatives to attract workers into the various sectors that span the construction industry.

Thinking ahead

Chris Wood, CEO of Develop Training Limited, the UK’s leading training specialist in the utilities sector, commented “The skills shortage in the UK is a catastrophe waiting to happen, one that literally threatens to turn out Britain’s lights. A solution to the twin problems of a chronic skills shortage in our utilities industry and high youth unemployment is obvious – train young people to take the places of the ageing workforce, but it just isn’t happening at anything like the rate that it needs to be. The new PM and her Cabinet must make it a government priority to look into ways to correct this issue as a matter of extreme urgency.

“As householders and businesses in the UK wonder about a post-Brexit future, they should remember that the utilities sector is still facing a potentially devastating skills shortage. The sector is constantly on a recruitment drive but is simply not receiving the response it requires.

“We all need confidence that our lights will stay on, our heating will continue to keep our houses warm and our taps keep providing running water, but the day is fast approaching when there will simply not be enough workers to do these vital jobs.”

Home-grown talent

Brian Berry of the Federation of Master Builders has also echoed concerns post-Brexit regarding the retention of skilled EU workers and the training of new talent. Berry said “We need to ensure that we invest in our own home-grown talent through apprenticeship training. We need to train more construction apprentices so we are not overly reliant on migrant workers from Europe or further afield. That’s why it’s so important that the Government gets the funding framework right for apprenticeships – when you consider that this whole policy area is currently in flux, and then you add Brexit into the mix, it’s no exaggeration to say that a few wrong moves by the Government could result in the skills crisis becoming a skills catastrophe. The next few years will bring unprecedented challenges to the construction and house building sector, and it’s only through close collaboration between the Government and industry that we’ll be able to overcome them.”

Diversity

Skanska, who recently won the Judges’ Supreme Award and Diversity Champion of the Year Award, have suggested that we need ensure the culture of our industry is both inviting and nurturing in order to alleviate the shortage long-term.

Mike Putnam, President and CEO Skanska UK, said “We believe that a diverse and inclusive culture is key to creating a successful and sustainable business. It will help us to create teams where people think differently, while making them better placed to understand the needs of the communities in which we work.

“It is through the way that our people embrace diversity and create an open and welcoming environment that we are able to work collaboratively – with our customers, joint venture and supply chain partners.”

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The recession’s lost generation – the challenge of closing the graduate skills gap

Guest post from Managing Director of TDM Recruitment, Tom Morris:

At its pre-recession peak in 2008, the UK’s construction workforce was 2.58 million; a staggering amount. However even more confounding is the fact that by the end of quarter four last year, this had dropped by nearly 13 per cent to 2.25 million. The big problem is that those that were forced to leave the industry at the start of the recession have left a gaping skills gap behind them which is continuing to cause issues.

Before the recession hit, a variety of industry graduate training programmes were being run by contractors and developers in the residential sector and money was in plentiful supply. It was common practice for us to be arranging around 15 first interviews a week which now seems somewhat ridiculous given the way the industry has changed. Salaries were high and construction job openings were plentiful.

When the credit crunch hit in 2008, and the banking sector went into freefall, graduate training programmes were cut as being ‘non-core.’ They really didn’t get going again until 2013, and the old ways of actively promoting to universities to attract the best talent wasn’t until 2014.

The result was a four-year gap after the last tranche of graduates came into the industry before the crunch, and many of those arriving in 2007 and 2008 were shown the door when the recession hit. Now we are faced with an industry where those experienced late twentysomething and early thirtysomething graduates needed to team lead on projects are missing, and junior guys with perhaps only two or three years’ experience are being over promoted to fill the gap.

The worst irony is that now there is a lot of work to do to deliver on demand, particularly in the residential sector, but the new professionals aren’t there to deliver it, and many don’t want to return to the industry having been through a traumatic time in the late 2000s. At the same time there are lot of senior people who now want to step up to board level, meaning there is a excess of applicants for each position, and an oversupply of freelancers who left the industry during the recession and now command high rates and benefit from flexibility. This perfect storm has only begun to dawn on people relatively recently, but what can be done?

The way that some firms have tried to deal with this shortage in management skills is to throw money at the problem. However, it is hard to justify a £20,000 jump in salary for the same Senior Surveyor position in 12 months when the rest of the economy hasn’t kept pace. This sort of inflation-busting rise isn’t sustainable because the rest of the team is likely to want something similar and be demotivated if it isn’t given.

The construction industry had to make hard-headed commercial decisions as the recession bit into their profit margins, but some of those decisions are now coming home to roost in the form of the skills gap. Many staff were treated brutally, and some professionals with good experience are now reluctant to go back to work for the larger organisations which made large numbers of staff redundant, sometimes at very short notice.

The mind-set of candidates has changed and as a ‘sellers’ market’ employers need to be acutely aware of how. Before the recession they may have just looked at whoever was making the highest offer as salaries were very healthy, however graduates who have come into the industry since 2008 or perhaps knew people who went through a traumatic time have a different mind-set.

The experienced young candidates the sector desperately needs are much more focused on achieving genuine work-life balance and being part of an organisation with a strong set of values beyond simply making money. Recent graduates are from Generation Y and are asking employers ‘why would I want to work here?’ As the new graduate programmes will take some time to bed in, employers facing the challenge of delivering construction projects now need to be able to answer that question.

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From deprivation to dream homes

A panel will look at how the layout of deprived estates can be best regenerated and reused to deliver more quality homes for Britain.

New tenants rights will be at the heart of the regeneration of some of the country’s most deprived estates, Lord Heseltine said this week (9 February 2016).

A panel, who met for the first time today, will look at how the layout of estates can be best used to deliver more quality homes that people can buy and rent.

The experts will also ensure that there are strong protections in place for existing residents so they will always be given the right to return to their communities.

The 17-strong group, co-chaired by Lord Heseltine and Housing Minister Brandon Lewis and reporting to the Prime Minister and Communities Secretary Greg Clark, will develop a national estate regeneration strategy and work with up to 100 estates to tackle deprivation and transform them into vibrant communities.

The Prime Minister announced last month that £140 million would be made available to jump-start the regeneration. The loan funding will allow communities to lever in investment from the public and private sector to deliver ambitious projects that local people can be proud of.

Lord Heseltine said “Estates regeneration is key to transforming the lives of people living on poorly designed housing projects. The panel will provide expert advice, support and explore innovative funding solutions to drive forward the regeneration of estates around the country.”

“However, I am clear that this has to be locally led and we must work with the residents of such estates. I now want to see local communities coming forward with innovative ideas to achieve desirable neighbourhoods that local people can be proud of.”

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said “We know these estates offer huge potential to be revived so that they become thriving communities and places which people want to live and work in.”

“This panel provides a wealth of experience to kick-start work that will help transform the lives of thousands of people by delivering better homes in better estates.”

The panel met at the York Road Estate in Battersea, London where plans are being developed for a major regeneration scheme.

Wandsworth Council leader and panel member Ravi Govindia said “I’m delighted to join panel and to play a part in unlocking the great potential of our country’s housing estates.”

“Here in Battersea we are demonstrating that estate regeneration can be done with the support of the local community. Our approach is centred firmly on improving the lives of Winstanley and York estate residents and to providing new opportunities and better life chances.”

Future meetings will be held at estates across the country. Members are:

  • Councillor Ravi Govindia, leader of Wandsworth Council
  • Nicholas Boys Smith, director of Create Streets, a social enterprise and independent research institute which pushes for well designed estates
  • Andrew Boff, leader of the Greater London Authority Conservatives housing group
  • Elaine Bailey, chief executive, from Hyde Housing Association, which successfully regenerated the Packington Estate in Islington
  • Paul Tennant, chief executive from Orbit Housing Association, which successfully regenerated Erith Estate in Bexley
  • Tony Pidgley, chief executive of Berkeley Homes – a lead partner on various estate regenerations across London
  • Peter Vernon, chief executive of Grosvenor Estates
  • Jane Duncan, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
  • Ben Bolgar, director of Design Theory and Networks at the Prince’s Foundation
  • Dominic Grace, head of London Residential Development at estates agents Savills
  • Emma Cariaga from the British Land and Thames Valley Housing Association
  • David Budd, Mayor of Middlesbrough
  • Natalie Elphicke, chief executive of the Housing & Finance Institute
  • Graham Allen, MP for Nottingham North
  • Felicie Krikler, associate director at Assael Architecture

The group will now work with a range of local stakeholders, including communities, local authorities, landlords, investors, builders, housing associations, and anyone else with ideas and ambition. It will draw up the national strategy for estate regeneration by the autumn. Its objectives include:

  • providing strong protection for existing residents, such as rights of return
  • delivering more homes for rent and ownership
  • delivering homes more quickly
  • promote high standards of design to provide commercially viable schemes which have the potential to be self-financing
  • encouraging and attracting more private and public sector investment to help regenerate estates

Britain is building again with the number of new homes up 25% in the past year and revived estates will play an important part in providing good quality social and affordable housing, and offering people the chance to achieve their dream of home ownership.

Wandsworth Council has announced ambitious plans to regenerate the neighbouring York Road and Winstanley Estates in Battersea, which will see more than 2,000 new home built. A range of affordable homes will provided for people to buy or rent at below market rates and the number of social rent properties will increase.

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Ecobuild joins forces with the Job Show to help meet construction industry skills gap

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In response to an industry-wide skills shortage, Ecobuild, the UK’s largest show dedicated to construction and energy, has launched a partnership with The Job Show™, the nationwide quality recruitment and careers event, to create a construction-focused job show which will run alongside Ecobuild on the last day of the show, 10th March at ExCeL London.

The Construction Job Show™ in partnership with Ecobuild has been designed to bring together employers of all sizes and disciplines with the very best would-be employees, and is built on The Job Show’s proven track record of uniting talented individuals with fantastic career opportunities, creating connections that benefit both parties.

For construction industry companies, the show gives them the opportunity to recruit their next generation of workers, ensuring they have the manpower – in terms of both capacity and competency – to meet growing, post-recession workloads and address any emerging skills shortages.

Jobseekers will be able to take in a wide variety of potential employment options and take their first steps to a career in fields as diverse as engineering and architecture, surveying to project management.

Martin Hurn, Ecobuild Event Director, said “With The Construction Job Show™ we have responded to industry demand to provide a dedicated space that will go some way to addressing the current skills shortage affecting the construction industry. With the recent news from Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) predicting an additional 232,000 job roles being created over the next five years, we believe this skills gap will be a core topic being discussed on day three of Ecobuild, which has a conference programme dedicated to Next Generation.

“The industry is changing at a pace never experienced before and as such there’s never been a wider range of opportunities available for those looking to embark on a career in construction across a wide range of disciplines.”

Victoria Clarke, Co-founder and Director of The Job Show™ said “We are delighted to launch The Construction Job Show™. As a dedicated ‘sector’ driven recruitment event we believe we can offer an excellent forum to showcase industry job roles as well as Apprenticeship and training opportunities for our generation of the future.

“With the increasing demand for new recruits across the construction industry, the timing of The Construction Job Show™ is excellent, being staged on the last day of Ecobuild, an event that already gathers the leading construction companies together.”

The Construction Job Show™ will be held in the South Gallery Rooms on the last day of Ecobuild 2016 on Thursday 10th March. For more information about the event or to book a stand space please click here or telephone Victoria on (01733) 555717 or mobile 07804 735856.

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Older workers crucial to curbing construction industry skills gap

The world’s population is ageing rapidly and with profound results. In response to these changes, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has launched a report exploring the effects of the ageing population on the construction industry and outlined how the sector can adapt to meet some of the challenges.

‘Exploring the impact of the ageing population on the workforce and built environment’ is the second report from the CIOB to study the effects of the ageing population. Six years on from the first study, the research highlights the crucial role the built environment has to play in terms of improving the lives of older people.

In a survey of nearly 1,000 CIOB members, responses indicate that despite legislative changes to improve recognition of the ageing population and combat workplace discrimination, awareness of the ageing population and its influence on the built environment has slumped – when compared with the findings from the CIOB’s first report.

The research finds that the built environment has a crucial role to play in terms of improving the lives of older people through measures designed to enhance the accessibility and liveability of buildings. Retaining ageing workers’ knowledge and skills is also crucial, and the report sends a clear message to policymakers and industry leaders: to be successful, construction needs to see far greater investment and recognition of ageing workers.

With 19% of the construction workforce set to retire in the next five to ten years, the report finds that employers need to overcome stereotypes and repurpose, where necessary, job descriptions to attract and, most importantly, retain older workers. However, the CIOB is clear that this not be considered a substitute for investing in training, and should work hand-in-hand to help alleviate the ongoing skills crisis.

Whilst 57% of respondents acknowledged that it was ‘very important’ to retain ageing workers, this was not reflected in the number of respondents who stated that their workplace had measures such as flexible working, succession planning, mid-life career reviews or retirement planning designed to encourage an extension to longer working lives.

The benefits of mentoring are well documented. However, despite the overwhelming majority of respondents acknowledging this, only 63% confirmed that this measure was a regular feature in the workplace. Respondents pointed towards the difficulties obtaining high-calibre staff to deliver and participate in such schemes. Crucially, the report suggests that more needs to be done to make better use of ageing workers’ expertise and skills, and use this to help upskill younger counterparts.

Bridget Bartlett, Deputy Chief Executive of the CIOB said “The findings from this report indicate that the impact of the ageing population and the role of the ageing workforce have slipped down the agenda.

“However, if construction is to meet the skills crisis it faces and fill the 224,000 vacancies needed by 2019, employers should look to take additional steps to overcome the skills shortages they incur by reaching out to older workers. There is a huge opportunity to showcase to both young and old members of the workforce that construction isn’t all hard hats and hi-vis and that off-site opportunities are aplenty. We demand technical skills as much as manual skills.

“Employers must also recognise the skills of their existing workers and put in measures such as flexible working, career reviews or even retirement planning to encourage longer working lives. As our own research tells us, skills shortages in construction are compounded by those entering the industry not being suitably qualified for the position. We should take this opportunity to use older workers to tap into their skills and knowledge and ensure they are passed onto the next generation.”

A full copy of the research can be accessed from www.ciob.org/population.

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UK faces bleakest construction skills shortage in nearly 20 years

The latest RICS UK Construction Survey shows that the country’s skills shortage has reached its highest levels since the survey was launched 18 years ago, with bricklayers and quantity surveyors in shortest supply. Over half of respondents (53%) reported difficulty sourcing labour, with 71% saying they had particular difficulty sourcing bricklayers and 64% highlighting a shortage of quantity surveyors.

During the same period in 2011, just 1% of respondents were struggling to find bricklayers and only 15% noted a shortage of quantity surveyors.

In addition to labour supply, 69% of firms said that financial constraints, such as access to credit, were among the biggest constraints to growth, while 60% said that regulatory and planning issues were potent constraints.

However, despite these challenges, the survey shows significant areas of growth, with the number of new construction projects increasing, particularly in private housing and commercial sectors. While official figures (which are often subject to revision) highlighted a slight contraction in output over the three months to August, a substantial proportion of respondents to the RICS reported an increase in their workloads (net balance +39%), with 29% of firms saying that they were operating at full capacity.

The private housing and commercial sectors continue to lead the growth in workloads with net balances of 47% and 46% respectively reporting an increase. However, momentum was least firm in the public sector with net balances of 12% and 21% reporting growth in workloads in the housing and non-housing segments respectively.

Meanwhile, in the infrastructure sector, growth accelerated somewhat with a balance of 34% seeing workloads rise, up from 25% last quarter.

RICS Chief Economist, Simon Rubinsohn commented on the survey “While it’s exciting to see that the UK is experiencing growth across the construction sectors, future growth will only be sustainable if the growing skills crisis is addressed. The availability of both blue collar and white collar construction workers is reaching crisis point. We haven’t witnessed a labour shortage of its kind in nearly 20 years. Without the relevant skills, we will not be able to grow many of the Government’s priority construction sectors such as infrastructure.”

“Currently, while we know that there is a serious shortage of skills, we don’t yet know why we have seen such a dramatic drop in the labour market over the past five years. Part of the problem is the legacy of the collapse in the sector following the onset of the Global Financial Crisis. Many professionals and other skilled workers chose to leave the industry and quite simply have not returned or been replaced. A real focus on attracting more young people into the industry is critical alongside an expansion of apprenticeship opportunities.”

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