CIOB’s CEO, Caroline Gumble, shared her thoughts on how construction can make itself more inclusive, after attending a CPD event on misconceptions of the skills gap.
I’m pleased this issue has been highlighted, as I’m one of those individuals struggling to enter the industry. I’m about to start my final year in construction management at university and I’m feeling slightly down because I could not get a placement.
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I am a student CIOB member, a student APM member and I attend networking events and engage in CPDs. I am currently working on site as a groundworker while looking for any opportunities to begin my career. The difficulties I’ve encountered when trying to enter the industry have even motivated me to consider starting a career as an entrepreneur property developer.
The effects of not getting into the industry’s professional environments have led me to a form of mental isolation as I cannot talk with my team on site about how AI can speed tendering processes, for example. Most of them don’t understand the topic or are plainly not interested.
It would be good if companies used level 4 students in construction management as labour on site, level 5 students as trainee site managers and graduates as junior construction managers.
Maybe this could be done in conjunction with universities to help students get employment during the term breaks and gain experience at different levels.
Ashley Campbell
Building a sustainable future for women in construction
Seddon’s owner and director Nicola Hodkinson suggested how the industry can support recruitment and retention of women.
I have worked in the industry for 30 years and, as a female professional, it has been difficult, with numerous barriers put in place – not only limiting promotion but also a comparable wage and equal working conditions.
These are the main factors which discourage women from staying and joining the industry. Companies should have equality at the heart of their company strategy, but sadly this is not the case in many instances.
Joanne Harris
One of the blue gully grates that Barratt and Wrekin installed as part of ‘The Sea Starts Here’ campaign (Image: Wrekin Products)
Barratt launches ocean protection campaign with blue gully grates
I think this is a tremendous initiative, as people put all sorts of substances down storm drains that they do not wish to place in their foul sewers. I will forward details of this to our new MP who, as part of their election manifesto, indicated cleaning up waterways.
Dr Morwenna Fellows explained how her PhD research has uncovered the health and safety challenges that arise on site when there is no shared first language.
I applaud Dr Fellows on her subject matter and research. Most site managers have tried unsuccessfully over the past two decades to raise awareness of this. From a health and safety perspective, site signage and health and safety documents are all in English, so site management is left to its own discretion on how to go forward.
In the past, I managed a site for a tier 1 contractor where 70% of the workers on site were from Eastern Europe. I insisted that at least one of every five operatives was bilingual.
I requested their assistance with interpretation and produced signs that everyone would understand.
Anthony Carroll MCIOB via CIOB People
Having worked in the Middle and Far East for many years, I have been on the language minority side of this issue. Many workers spoke their own language and Arabic, neither of which I spoke. It is not difficult to create posters with the help of multilingual workers – keeping them mainly pictorial is a good starting point.
The January/February 2026 issue of Construction Management magazine is now available to read in digital format.
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