Latest News Mon, Feb 27, 2017 9:36 AM
The housebuilding industry will need to employ more than 370,000 new people if the UK is to raise output to 270,000 new homes per year over the next five years, according to a new report.
The Arcadis Talent Scale – which measures the true extent of the skills crisis across the housebuilding and infrastructure workforce - reveals that the sector must recruit one worker every 85 seconds to meet swelling housing demand.
In the report, author Arcadis warns that failure to address the labour gap could lead to the rise of the UK’s MINTED workforce – the “Most in Need Trades Earning Double”. These tradespeople’s earnings could “sky-rocket inside a generation”.
According to the report, carpenters and joiners are the most sought after trades, with demand for them accounting for almost one sixth of all national resource requirements. In housebuilding, bricklayers, plumbers and electricians are also highly desired.
In London and the south east, 110,000 more people will need to be employed, accounting for nearly 30% of total demand across the UK.
And in a “hard Brexit” scenario, 215,000 fewer EU citizens would enter the infrastructure and housebuilding sectors between now and 2020, Arcadis predicted, “further exacerbating the existing labour shortage”.
James Bryce, Arcadis’ director of workforce planning, said: “What we have is not a skills gap; it is a skills gulf. Systemic underinvestment in the nation’s workforce has contributed to a reduction in UK productivity.
“However, overcoming a skills shortfall as vast as the one we now face can’t be achieved through education and technology alone. Of course, we need to bring more new talent into the industry but, in the short term, construction will also need to look at those currently working in other industries and dramatically improve its efficiency.”
Featured News
New planning powers have come into effect giving local councils greater tools to hold...
The Joint Competency Initiative (JCI), in which the Automatic Door Suppliers...
BUILDING PRODUCT LIBRARY - LATEST BROCHURES
FRAMESAFE FR A2 FIRE...
By Glidevale Protect
A Guide to Aluminium...
By F.H. Brundle
Handrailing & Balust...
By F.H. Brundle
RLG600 Access Floori...
By Kingspan Data & Floo...
RHG600 Simploc
By Kingspan Data & Floo...
BUILDING PRODUCT DIRECTORY - LATEST PRODUCTS
Straightcurve® – headquartered in Australia, is renowned for high-end innovative garden edging,...
The Kingspan RLG600 raised access floor panel is intended for light office use and is capable of...
Kingspan RHG600 Simploc is the heavy grade floor system, capable of handling up to a 12kN/m2...
CONSTRUCTION VIDEOS - LATEST VIDEOS
Straightcurve® Product Range Overview - A Demonstration of Installation Ease
In progressive and dynamic business sectors, such as construction, it’s natural to be forward...
Decorative aluminium horizontal bulkheads more than 100 metres long have been supplied and installed...