Micro, small and medium sized construction companies have long been plagued by skills shortages. It’s an issue that has been decades in the making, and which has recently been made worse by the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The roots of the skills issues are varied but include underinvestment in vocational education; the poor perception of the building industry particularly amongst school leavers; and the complexities of training staff in small building firms as many have little spare capacity. Against this background the UK government desperately needs to introduce an ambitious and transformative education policy to help our industry. While it’s still too early to see the true impact of the Skills and Post-16 Education Act, there is clearly some merit, but does it deliver the overhaul the industry needs?
Currently there are severe skills shortages across a number of occupations all of which are critical to SME building companies. The FMB’s most recent State of Trade Survey data [Q1 2022] revealed that 45 per cent of local builders were struggling to hire carpenters, with 40 per cent finding it difficult to hire bricklayers. What’s more, 55 per cent of jobs by FMB members are being delayed because they cannot find the skilled labour they need.
The industry also faces a rather dire upcoming dilemma, the usually innocuous issue of retirement. Many workers in the construction workforce are approaching retirement age, without an equal number of younger workers filling the gaps. The FMB’s recent member census reported that the main business owner in over 60 per cent of our firms is aged over 50. This ageing workforce had been propped up by younger newcomers from the European Union (EU), but there has been an exodus post-Brexit, with 25,000 leaving the sector between 2019 and 2020, according to Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).
So why is the sector facing such a labour crisis? Ultimately it comes down to barriers and perception. It is the aim of the Skills and Post-16 Education Act to broaden out skills advice. This is vital, as more must be done to improve the perception of being a builder, with a career in construction ultimately being seen as a positive step and its entrepreneurial nature championed. Unfortunately, it’s far too often – and wrongly – seen as a career of last resort and this opinion is prevalent in society, schools, and career services.
Construction can be well paid, indeed many builders’ pay far outstrips that of a graduate of equivalent years in the workforce, although admittedly, more needs to be done to improve apprentice pay. To further improve the perception of the industry, and as champions of quality in the built environment, the FMB has been campaigning for a licencing system for all UK construction companies. This needs government backing, and in routing out cowboy builders, could have a transformative effect on the industry’s image and on people’s demand to join it.
Aside from the sector’s reputational issues preventing greater uptake of apprenticeships, there is also a resourcing dilemma for many building firms. Fostering apprenticeships is challenging in an industry of narrow profit margins, sensitivity to economic shocks and a prevalence of self- employed workers. However, in spite of these challenges, SMEs conducted the bulk of the training for the sector, training around 71 per cent of all construction apprentices.
Prioritising local needs and local people is a key focus of the Act which is to be applauded. It will mean colleges will have to work more closely with employers to develop skills plans, which should help identify areas of need. Who better to help drive these strategies than local builders who know the skills shortages in their regions?
Another key tenet of the Act, developing green skills, is an area the FMB is actively championing. We believe there needs to be a holistic, nationwide approach to retrofit, using the long-term National Retrofit Strategy, developed through the Construction Leadership Council [CLC], as a blueprint. We need to retrofit 29 million UK homes, and doing so should be seen by the government as a central pillar of the levelling up strategy.
Retrofit also has the benefit of using local builders, using a local labour force, who in turn would train up local school leavers, providing high skilled, well-paid jobs in their communities. But first there must be the incentive to do so because builders won’t upskill new staff or take on new tradespeople if there is no market. Unfortunately, as it stands there is no major market within the owner occupier market, as consumer incentives are lacking. Without this kickstart it won’t matter what skills infrastructure exists because without demand green jobs and skills won’t be delivered.
Key Points:
• Skills shortages have been plaguing the construction sector for years.
• Perception of the industry stops new joiners.
• Long-term lack of investment in vocational skills routes.
• Green skills will be hampered without wider retrofit plan.
This article originally appeared in The Leaders Council’s special report on ‘The Impact of the Skills & Post-16 Education Act on the Construction, Engineering & Manufacturing sectors’, published on July 4, 2022. Read the full special report here.
Photo by Callum Hill on Unsplash
