UK Construction Excellence September

Wising up to the
skills shortage
The skills shortage in the construction sector is well documented,
with research conducted by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB)
suggesting that access to skilled workers is decreasing through the
building trade, from bricklayers and carpenters to other key trades.
The FMB’s latest State of Trade Survey
for 2017 shows that 60% of construction
SMEs are struggling to hire bricklayers;
58% are struggling to hire carpenters
and joiners; and 45% are struggling to
hire plumbers. So while the industry is
growing, it is facing a jobs bottleneck.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB,
said: “We’ve been experiencing a severe
shortage of bricklayers and carpenters for
quite some time – these latest statistics
show that skills shortages are now
seeping into other key trades such as
roofers and plumbers. Indeed, of the 15
key trades and occupations we monitor,
40% show skills shortages at their highest
point since we started to feel the effects
of the skills crisis in 2013 when the
industry bounced back post-downturn.
This growing skills deficit is driving up
costs for small firms and simultaneously
adding to the pressure being felt by
soaring material prices linked to the
weaker pound.”
The construction industry is
experiencing a resurge, and if the
Government’s Housing White Paper call
for a million more homes by 2020 is to
be realised, the sector will need to have
sufficient skilled workers to build these
new homes.
Berry continued: “Against a background
of significant political uncertainty,
including Brexit and the General
Election, this demonstrates a resilience
in our sector that can sometimes go
underappreciated. All of the key metrics
of growth – workloads, enquiries,
employment and expectations – were
positive. However, these encouraging
findings are dampened somewhat by
continuing price inflation, with material
and wage increases being widely
reported. The remainder of the year will
undoubtedly provide its challenges, but
in the short term at least, builders are
confident about their prospects.”
We spoke to Dave Newgass at Wise
Global Training about the skills
shortage and how businesses can
ensure they have skilled labour available
for new contracts.
“Fluctuations in the market have
contributed to the construction skills
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