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Survey highlights concerns over construction industry skills shortage

According to a recent survey from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), 65% of its members felt that the current workforce was not sufficiently skilled, with 91% anticipating a skills shortage beyond 2005.

The research, carried out over the last three months, showed that 79% of respondents have experienced problems in recruitment during 2004/05. Respondents were asked to rate the level of difficulty across occupations. The highest level of recruitment difficulty came in ‘crafts and trades’ with 42% of members registering a serious problem. 60% have had some difficulty recruiting ‘semi-skilled manual workers’ and ‘support services managers’; 56% indicated hardship in recruiting contract and site managers.

89% of all respondents felt there was a shortage of training placements, citing the main reasons as employer costs, and labour only sub-contracting and outsourcing.

The prime causes for the construction skills shortage was given as a combination of poor image and greater competition from more attractive industries, as well as current policies for recruiting new entrants.

Michael Brown CIOB deputy chief executive said, "This research reinforces our concern in meeting the future capacity requirements of the construction industry. Urgent attention is needed to attract more young people into our industry. The attraction of projects like the Olympics should provide an opportunity to showcase the industry and attract many more young people."

The Construction Industry Training Board estimates that the industry needs 88,000 recruits every year for the next five years.

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