With the crisis that construction is facing due to an ageing workforce, Charmaine Steele, Head of Culture and People Development at Dura Composites, looks at how the industry is struggling to attract younger people of both genders and what employers should be doing to alleviate the situation.
The skills shortage facing construction might not be new, but it is getting worse. An ageing workforce and failure to attract younger generations, or a more diverse workforce, is putting a strain on the industry. Currently only 14% of the workforce are female, ethnic minorities make up just 6%, and only 9% are below the age of 25. What’s more, a survey from construction and property consultancy, Stace, reveals that only 7% of 16 – 18 year olds are considering a career in the sector.
The struggle to attract more people to construction is made more pertinent by recent numbers of lost workers. This isn’t just a future problem, it’s a now problem.
The pandemic and Brexit obviously hit the sector hard, and as many as 25,000 migrant workers have returned home over the past couple of years. Numbers of domestic workers are falling too, with a large proportion of the industry made up of self employed people and sole traders who weren’t as protected by the furlough scheme.
What problems is this causing?
Figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) demonstrate that the shortages of workers in the construction industry are pretty much across the board including quantity surveyors and project managers as well as both skilled trades and more general labour. This, combined with problems around accessing building materials in the current environment, is exerting significant upward pressure on construction costs at the present time.
One of the biggest challenges facing the sector is meeting government ambitions in housebuilding, with an aim to deliver 300,000 new homes per year, as well as decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet our net zero target by 2050.
High levels of infrastructure investment are proposed by both government and the private sector, which according to the Construction Skills Network, is likely to result in an average growth rate of 4.4% between 2021 and 2025 – an increase that would require an extra 43,000 workers per year. When we’re talking about a whole country, this might seem feasible, but for an industry struggling to retain the talent it already has, this is a problem.
As well as work being delayed and employees being asked to do overtime both becoming more normal than they should, the skills shortage is impacting some companies’ ability to take on work, having to turn projects away.
What needs to change?
Recruitment issues facing the industry not only create barriers, they also prevent diversity. There is no clear and obvious career path, as well as some confusion around what the right qualifications are. The need for qualifications, particularly basic health and safety qualifications for example, also means that even weekend and part time jobs aren’t always a suitable route into the industry as they are in so many other practical sectors.
The industry becomes further closed off when jobs are advertised through word of mouth, and vacancies are filled by friends, family and acquaintances, especially in small companies, in turn contributing to construction remaining a very white, male-orientated industry.
More needs to be done to create awareness of the career options available within construction, and even more crucially, give young people the experience to know whether it’s the right choice for them or not.
A recent report by the Princes Trust found that the disruption of education and employment as a result of the pandemic means that young people all over the UK are experiencing a crippling loss of confidence in their skills for work and their future prospects.
At Dura Composites, the average age of our staff is lower than is typical for our sector, and that’s thanks in part to our efforts to actively try to engage new generations. We run apprenticeships and regular student placement programmes, creating more awareness of the breadth of career options in this area, allowing people the opportunity to see themselves on those pathways. Support, advice and guidance are vital to improving the outlook for young people at such a critical point in their lives, and its important to consider different methods of recruitment such as group workshops that don’t create unnecessary barriers to finding employment and can play a key role in attracting young workers from diverse backgrounds
Does construction need a rebrand?
There’s a bigger challenge to tackle though. The above methods will only work with people who are at least open to the idea of working in construction. If that’s only approximately 7% of young people, then there’s work to be done to make our industry more attractive, and to do that the image needs to change.
Company culture within the construction industry is often highlighted negatively, with a perceived ‘laddish’ culture, and sometimes outdated views of the world. It’s also a sector that’s well documented for poor mental health among staff due to limited-term contracts, long hours, long commutes, time away from family and the pressure of delivering to time and budget.
While that does seem to be changing, with more companies taking culture and wellbeing more seriously, making an effort to address areas such as excessive working hours, it feels like there’s still some disparity between how people see the industry and what people actually experience.
Proving the commitment to change in these areas, as well as highlighting some of the more positive aspects of a career in construction is the start of overcoming long standing recruitment issues, and getting on the radar of a new potential workforce from a range of backgrounds. Not only will this attract more people, but just as importantly, it will make sure that we’re not losing the skilled, valuable workers we already have.
Charmaine Steele is Head of Culture and People Development at Dura Composites, an award-winning designer, manufacturer, installer, and supplier of composite materials.