A quarter of contractors were unable to bid for work during the third quarter of 2016 due to labour shortages, Build UK’s State of Trade survey has found.
In the group’s latest survey undertaken with Glenigan, it found that in the three months following the EU referendum, from July to September, Build UK members’ workloads rose in the aftermath of the vote. However, increasing difficulties in recruiting skilled operatives along with rising costs meant 25% of contractors were unable to bid for jobs, up from 16% in Q2.
The rest of the survey found 55% of contractors reporting an increase in labour costs compared to the previous quarter and 60% reporting their labour costs as higher than a year ago.
According to the results, the trades proving the most difficult for contractors to recruit are professional/technical staff and supervisors, bricklayers and carpenters.
The main reasons stated for the difficultly in filling vacancies include a lack of required skills (47%), a low number of applicants with the required experience (44%) and a lack of qualifications (27%).
