14
SEPTEMBER 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
SKILLS SHORTAGES
STILL POSE
MAJOR THREAT TO
CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY
GROWTH, SAYS
THE BUILD SHOW
As several major pieces of industry research identify skills
shortages as posing a serious threat to the on-going growth of
the construction industry, the team behind the Build Show is
warning that more must be done to support skills development.
In a worrying statistic, the
National Specialist Contractors’ Council revealed
that 19% of specialist firms
have reported being unable
to bid for work because of
a lack of skilled staff. The
figure, released as part of
the NSCC’s second quarter
State of Trade Survey, is a
significant increase on the
yearly average of 6%.
Meanwhile, the challenges of
finding workers with the right
skills have also been highlighted
by companies surveyed in the
latest UK construction Purchasing
Managers’ Index (PMI), released
by financial information provider
Markit. As the housebuilding
market in particular grows at its
fastest rate in more than a decade, many of the firms surveyed
in Markit’s research reported
concerns about securing a skilled
workforce in order to meet the
increasing demands.
The results echo the findings of
the Build Show’s own research, in
which 44% of construction professionals pointed to skills shortages
as the biggest challenge faced by
their business currently. A lack of
clarity about how young people
can break into the construction
industry was cited as the main
issue, with 47% of respondents
claiming clearer routes into