A dearth of skilled construction workers has left one in 20 firms at risk of going under and around 62,000 jobs in danger, the latest study by the Construction Industry Training Board has revealed.
The survey of 300 construction employers found that 42% were struggling to recruit workers with the right skills, while around 5% said a lack of talent was putting them at risk of going under.
Just less than 18% of employers said the skills gap had hampered their growth over the past two years, and more than 10% said they had lost out on work because their competitors had a more skilled workforce.
In addition, 66% of employers felt that they should be incentivised more to take on youngsters as part of their workforce, while 52% said that more careers advice was needed to inform young people of the opportunities available to them in the sector.
“With major projects such as the new nuclear build programme coming online in the next five years, now is the time to start sparking the imagination of young people and harnessing their talent for the future of the industry.”
James Wates, chairman, CITB
Commenting on the report’s findings, James Wates, chairman of CITB, said: “More needs to be done to address construction’s skills ‘time bomb’, to safeguard jobs and ensure that growth is possible.
“With major projects such as the new nuclear build programme coming online in the next five years, now is the time to start sparking the imagination of young people and harnessing their talent for the future of the industry – any delay now could be putting the industry’s growth on hold… we need to show that construction is a high-tech, world-class industry with outstanding career prospects.”
In response to the report’s findings, CITB has teamed up with construction machinery firm JCB to launch a skills roadshow this week. The Construction4Growth Skills Drive will visit schools and skills academies across England and Wales to encourage young people to consider a career in the sector.
The industry’s urgent need for new talent was highlighted by figures, published in August by the Office of National Statistics, which found that 19%, or 406,000, of UK construction workers aged over 55 are set to retire in the next 5-10 years. In addition, 24%, or 518,000, of UK construction workers aged 45–54 are set to retire in the next 10-20 years.
The report found that 37% of the workforce is self-employed and 23%, or 182,800, of those are set to retire from the industry in the next 5-10 years.
The east midlands and the south west will be the worst affected by retirement, with 22% of construction workers due to leave the industry over the next 5-10 years.
Greater London, which employs the largest number of construction workers in the UK, will lose the least number of workers due to retirement, at just 12%, or 38,500 workers, over the next 5-10 years.
