30 | FEBRUARY 2020
Skills
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
HOW THE SKILLS GAP HAS
AFFECTED THE GOVERNMENT’S
HOMEBUILDING TARGETS
It’s no secret that
the construction
industry is
currently facing
an increasingly
large skills
shortage. The
industry has
long suffered
from a lack of
skilled workers,
making it more
difficult than
ever to hit
deadlines due
to the shrinking
talent pool.
This is a big problem for the
government, whose plans to build
300,000 new homes a year by the
mid-2020s is becoming more of a
pipe dream. In fact, according to
the Royal Institute of Chartered
Surveyors (RICS), the lack of
skilled construction workers is at
its highest point since 2007. In or-
der to get back on track, the indus-
try needs to recruit over 200,000
more workers by 2020.
Below, industry experts at
Vizwear explore what problems
the skills shortage in construction
is causing for the government’s
homebuilding targets — and
what companies can do to help
fill key positions.
What’s causing the
skills shortage?
The main problem that’s
contributing towards the skills
shortage is that as a whole, the
construction industry is still bat-
tling with an image problem.
“The industry needs to attract
a fresh workforce to keep up
with demands”, says Daniel Ure
from online PPE retailer Vizwear.
“But for many on the outside, the
thought of working in construc-
tion still conjures up images
of wolf-whistling workmen on
building sites. To attract a new
stream of workers, the industry
needs to shake this negative im-
age and show how the industry
has developed.”
It’s not just the difficulties of
attracting new employees that are
causing a skills shortage, though:
it’s also due to the current work-
ers.
Data from the 2011 census
showed that in the construction
industry, one in five employees
were aged over 55. This means
that by the early 2020s, when
the industry should be hitting
its homebuilding targets, most
will have reached or be close to
retirement age. An ageing work-
force and an uphill recruitment
battle are a combination that
could have a detrimental effect
on the industry.
What steps can be
taken to close the gap?
The biggest barrier facing the
construction industry is presenting
itself as a desirable career path
to potential employees. Although
often seen in a bad light, there are
fantastic opportunities to be had
in construction, including mechan-
ics, engineering and electronics.
There are a number of ways
that construction companies can
reach out to the right candidates
and ensure them that a career
in construction is exactly what
they’re looking for.
1. Increase education
To ensure that the future
workforce in construction is
vibrant and engaged, young
people need to be re-educat-
ed about what construction is
really like
A survey created by L&Q Group
discovered that only one in ten
children between the ages of 16
and 18 would consider a career
in construction, fearing that the
industry would be ‘challenging and
unexciting’. Although around 50%
said that they were interested in a
Science, Technology, Engineering
and Maths (STEM) career, the con-
struction industry simply wasn’t
appealing enough. Interestingly,
though, the students who said they
would consider a construction ca-
reer said that their reasoning was
due to the excitement of the role.
Working closely with schools
and colleges to promote the
industry is a great way to show
young people that there are a
number of avenues their career
path can take in construction. By
setting up a formal work experi-
ence programme, you can attract
future workers with real, hands-
on experience to give students
the chance to experience the
industry for themselves.