Home > News > November 2005 > 16-Nov-2005

ConstructionSkills publishes skills forecast for 2012 Olympics

According to a report published by ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry, building the London 2012 Olympics will create approximately 33,500 additional jobs over the next seven years, with civil engineering and a range of specialist skills in particularly high demand.

However, the organisation is warning that with a number of major projects to be delivered in the Greater London area over the next few years, managing workflow will be vital in order for the industry to deliver on all demands.

ConstructionSkills said the skills forecast is based on construction work directly attributable to the Games. It indicates that the number of workers needed to complete Olympic construction projects will peak at around 7,500 in 2010. This figure includes a range of specialist skilled workers who will be required to build the complex mix of stadia, infrastructure and residential developments.

According to ConstructionSkills, the forecast of 33,500 broadly breaks down as 6,500 managerial or administrative roles, 2,800 professionals such as architects and surveyors, and 24,000 trade or craft roles.

Sheila Hoile, skills strategy director at CITB-ConstructionSkills, said: "We believe that this analysis is the most accurate and realistic forecast available at this stage of planning. Building the Olympics needs to be seen in the wider context of the current massive demand on the UK construction industry. In the wider South East and Greater London alone there is £34bn worth of projects of over £100mn each in the pipeline. This is in addition to the existing Greater London construction industry with an annual value of approximately £12 billion. So the Olympics represents a huge construction programme with the work involved accounting for nearly 10 per cent of the total picture in these regions.

"With major projects currently on site such as Heathrow Terminal 5, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and Wembley, Britain is well-equipped for the task ahead. However, the years 2008-2010 are critical for London, with the number of workers on site at any one time in the South East area expected to peak in 2010. Good workflow management and effective leadership are vital to long-term success."

The Olympic skills figures are the first to be produced by the Construction Skills Network, a new cross-industry alliance developed by ConstructionSkills.

Sheila Hoile continued: "The Construction Skills Network will help to ensure that the industry has the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time. As more plans are finalised for the Olympic and Thames Gateway developments over the coming years, so the Network will be able to produce more accurate figures on how many people - and more importantly, in what roles - will be needed to deliver this massive project."

ConstructionSkills’ Olympic skills need analysis follows the news last week that the government has accepted ConstructionSkills' proposals for a Construction National Skills Academy operating as a network of on-site training centres on major construction projects around the country.

ConstructionSkills said its approach, which is designed to overcome the challenges of training a mobile workforce in a sector largely made up of small firms and sole traders, will include training units linked to the construction of facilities for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

ConstructionSkills is also unveiling the Constructing London 2012 team which, as part of the Strategic Forum Olympic Task Group, will work with partners to recruit and train local people. The team’s aim is to ensure that constructing the Olympics provides sustainable skills and job opportunities for the residents of East London.

Mike Bialyj, field director at CITB-ConstructionSkills said: "Construction is the UK's biggest industry. Even before we knew we'd won the Olympic bid, the industry required 88,000 new recruits every year to deliver on the massive demand the industry faces, with a number of large-scale projects in the pipeline, in addition to the Olympics.

"This week's announcements show our commitment to ensuring that the construction industry has a safe, skilled workforce in the right place at the right time to deliver on demand to 2012 and beyond."

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