MET News

Workforce Urged To Upskill To Support Growth
13 July 2010

Construction bosses are still being urged to maintain a commitment to staff training to preserve the industry’s workforce following the economic downturn, as new figures from the Construction Skills Network (CSN) revise the picture of the skills needs and growth rates for the 2010 and 2013 period.

Forecasts reveal two distinct phases for the industry: one of recession (through 2009 and into 2011) and one of gradual recovery (from 2011 to 2013). The year on year data indicates there will be nil growth in output nationally in 2010, followed by a gradual return to low-level growth of 1% in 2011, 2% in 2012 and 3% in 2013. These figures result in an average annual output growth over the next five years of 0.5%.

Taking account of the contraction in construction activity in the early part of the forecasting cycle, the model shows that the Annual Recruitment Requirement, averaged over the five year period, has declined to 37,000 workers. This represents a reduction of 5,000 new workers per year from the last CSN forecast, which was conducted to assess the impact of the economic downturn on the sector in autumn 2008.

This means overall workforce numbers at the end of the cycle are likely to return to 2008 levels of around 2.6 million, maintaining the industry’s position as the UK’s largest employer and prompting calls for businesses to ensure that workers possess the requisite skills for when demand for work picks up.

However, after a forecasted contraction of 3% in 2009, followed by no growth in 2010, we expect an incremental recovery culminating in a growth rate of 3% by 2013, largely due to public sector spending and potential market recovery from 2011.