Lack Of Construction Skills Reaches Critical Level

Figures from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), as cited on RecruitmentBuzz.co.uk, suggest that recruiters specialising in the construction skill-set have hit a crisis level.

Some 180,000 construction workers are now required in order to keep in line with the rapid growth of the industry. According to the CITB, this growth has been “fuelled by the demand for 245,000 new homes across the UK each year”. As a result, the UK has witnessed its sharpest rise since 2003.

Because the industry has exploded, the demand for these types of workers is exceedingly high. This has raised concerns and, as a result, construction industry experts have called for a summit meeting by Business Secretary, Vince Cable.

To help calm the immediate state of the situation, some 120,000 apprenticeships are required by 2019; this works out as an average of 25,000 per year. Recruitment Buzz believes this could prove challenging to the government and will need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

The blame for the current crisis is said to lie with the insufficient amount of government funding with regards to construction training.

Recent figures released from the Prince’s Trust supports this; almost a third of organisations reported skills shortages at entry level, with 72% stating that the recruitment of young people into the workforce is critical for preventing a skills crisis.