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Recruitment and Training
The Construction Skills Network report 2006, published earlier this month, forecasts that 348,000 more employees will be needed for the construction industry by 2010 to meet expected demand - an average of 87,000 new recruits per year.
In what is believed to be the most comprehensive set of reports ever published for the industry, the Construction Skills Network lifts the lid on predicted construction demand UK-wide and provides detailed analysis of expected workflow and project type, and forecasts for the occupational skills requirements region by region between 2006 - 2010.
The report confirms the news that the UK construction industry will continue to experience strong growth, with construction output expected to rise by 12.7% by 2010. By identifying exactly how many new recruits in each trade will be needed over the next five years to meet additional demand and account for industry leavers, the report also provides the industry with the information needed to ensure that every construction programme can be resourced and delivered.
Although, at 11,090 new recruits every year, the highest annual skills requirements UK-wide is for workers with wood trade skills (e.g. carpenters and joiners), there is also expected to be a high demand for managers, clerical staff, architects, engineers, and other design and technical professionals. In total, the number of “white collar” workers the industry needs to recruit every year to 2010 is forecast to be over 36,400 - almost 50% of the annual workforce requirement.
The report found that construction growth is expected to shift from the North to the South and East driven by strong growth in the new build sector that includes some £36 billion of large projects, including the Kings Cross redevelopments, ports projects at Shellhaven, Felixstowe and Harwich, East London Line extension, Victoria Station redevelopment and the Olympics and Thames Gateway construction programmes.
The East of England is set to experience the highest rate of employment growth with an increase of 18.6% by 2010, with London at 11% and the South East at 14%. Growth in the North is expected to slow: construction employment in the North West is expected to grow by 5% between 2006 and 2010, the North East by 6%, Yorkshire and Humberside by 6% and Scotland by 8%. Wales and Northern Ireland will also see strong growth. Construction industry employment in Wales will rise 12%, driven in part by the £3.2 billion Welsh Quality Standards Scheme, and a 13% increase in Northern Ireland can be attributed primarily to the large public investment programme planned for the region over the next 10 years.
The report also provides insight into the different types of construction project the new recruits will be needed to work on It reveals that:
Private output growth is expected to exceed publicly funded construction programmes.
Public house building is forecast to see the strongest growth of any sector as government and private house builders seek to deliver higher levels of affordable and key worker housing, particularly in London and the South East.
Robust growth is expected for the commercial sector, accounted for by the continued recovery for the offices market and further increases in PFI/PPP health and education work.
Infrastructure output is also forecast to be above the industry average, driven by projects such as the widening of the M1 and M25, the five year national water and sewerage AMP programme, nuclear decommissioning and, of course, works for the Olympic Park and Village.
ConstructionSkills is a partnership between CITB-ConstructionSkills, CIC and CITB Northern Ireland. It is one of the Sector Skills Councils tasked by the Government to implement UK-wide Sector Skills Agreements between the bodies responsible for delivering training in the UK and those that demand it.
CITB-ConstructionSkills provides assistance in all aspects of recruiting, training and qualifying the construction workforce. It also works with partners in industry and government to improve the competitiveness of the industry as a whole.
For more information about a career in the construction industry go to www.bconstructive.co.uk. A full copy of the ConstructionSkills Network report can be downloaded at www.constructionskills.net.
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Airstream Business Communications Ltd