Building & Home Articles Building & Construction Articles Re-creating Interest in the Construction Trade
| Re-creating Interest in the Construction Trade |
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With green blankets covering the buildings and cranes looming darkly overhead, Britain's commercial building boom doesn't seem to be much affected by the economic slump. As other industries cut back, the commercial building industry is not doing so, which is resulting in a noticeable shortage of workers to meet the demands of British construction companies.
With green blankets covering the buildings and cranes looming darkly overhead, Britain's commercial building boom doesn't seem to be much affected by the economic slump. As other industries cut back, the commercial building industry is not doing so, which is resulting in a noticeable shortage of workers to meet the demands of British construction companies. The dearth of skilled construction workers becomes most apparent when looking at last year's figures. 13,000 building projects were initiated in 2007 alone, and in order to support these projects, some 18,600 labourers were needed. The deficiency in skills is therefore widespread, expanding from the trade to the non-trade. Within trades, the highest annual requirements come from the wood and the electrical trades, but demands are also high for brick-layers and construction specialists. In the non-trades, construction managers, business processing managers, architects, office-based IT recruits, and technical and professional staff are among those on high demand. These shortages are mainly a consequence of three variables: 1) the demands of the building boom; 2) the decline in the number of East Europeans in the trade; 3) the misconceptions about construction work that recruiters have. The first reason, which has already been discussed above, is quite self-explanatory - the more construction projects are launched, the more recruits are needed to do the jobs. The Polish construction boom is also having an influence on the shortage of skilled Polish labourers in the British building industry. As many of Britain's most capable construction workers are leaving the country to return to Poland, the UK is much affected by this loss. The third reason that the UK is experiencing a worker shortage is due to recruiters' misconceptions of what construction work actually entails. Many job hunters perceive builders as hard-hats limited to a construction site, while in reality, a lot of construction jobs are often managerial or office-based. Various steps have been taken to diminish the gap in the trade. One of the ways companies do this is by getting women and various ethnic groups to consider a career in construction - not just white males with maths qualifications. The National Association of Women in Construction, for example, is looking outside the traditional recruitment pools, trying to target groups with a larger range of skills and work approaches. This creates a different work atmosphere, introduces fresh ideas into the industry, and cultivates diversity in the workplace. The Sustainable Employment Legacy Forum and Inspire Scholarships are two programs that provide initiatives to get younger generations interested in the industry. They not only organise trips for children to visit construction sites, but provide training courses, student funds, and apprenticeships for those in the poorer areas of London, by doing so encouraging more graduates to enter the trade. An alternative way to gather recruits is to change the way in which the industry is viewed. By making the public aware of the fact that construction work is not just about hard hats and light-reflecting mesh jackets, more people might consider construction as a career. About the Author: |
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