less foreign investment (60%) and drive up labour and material costs (55% and 53%), according to a survey by Building magazine. The flip side of that, which many people have pointed out, is that by having so many EU migrants move to the UK to undertake construction contracts, does in turn add pressure to already unsustainable levels of immigration and increase in population, with EU migrants snapping up more new jobs (224,000) than British workers (185,000). With an ageing workforce and a poor pipeline of young people, the construction industry looks certain to continue facing a skills crisis over the next decade, regardless of the outcome of the Brexit referendum. Aside from bemoaning the situation, what can actually be done to address it and change things for the better? There’s a number of things that can be done to alleviate the problem, and Mane have been proactive in trying to assist with this, placing great emphasis on upskilling the current workforce, to make them multi-skilled, something that has proved extremely effective recently with our existing contractors. We have also set up affiliations with local Universities to recruit graduates on structured apprenticeships and have also formed links with ex-offender units to try and give people a sense of renewed purpose. As well as that, we have focused on training, developing and engaging people unemployed, to assist them in returning to work, as well as proactively supporting initiatives to encourage more female workers in the industry. Across the industry, there are lots of initiatives and schemes that have been implemented to try and combat the problems too. The London Legacy Development Company and Crossrail are making bold statements ensuring 1
could brexit further impact the skills shortage?
in 50 places are filled by apprentices and 1 in 100 is to be an ex-offender. There has also been a clear commitment from the government to invest in major construction projects, allowing businesses to plan their work flow and identify skills gaps early enough to ensure suitable trained young people, and the long-term unemployed are available and ready for work when they are needed. Whether Brexit will accentuate the skills shortage even further remains to be seen, but what can be said, is it’s not a problem that’s about to go away anytime soon.