When the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government came to power in May, CITB-Construction Skills’ Chief Executive, Mark Farrar questioned the effect this would have on the construction industry. Said Mark "Construction is crucial to the success of our economic revival. That’s why it’s important that the new Government continues to support construction so that we can make sure that the industry increases its productivity and contributes to the economic recovery.
As the Sector Skills Council and Industry Training Board for the sector, we have been working with employers for over 40 years to make sure that our industry has the right skills in the right place at the right time. But, the recession has changed our industry, and we need to enlist Governmental support to help us recover so that we can continue to support construction, ensuring a stability of contract funding which will help underpin the many jobs and skills involved, at a time when the industry needs to deliver ever more demanding requirements.
Skills and training are at the heart of the election manifesto of the coalition government, and we look forward to finding out more about the support that will be given to our employers. Over the years, we have made progress in developing skills and helping employers to train, but the recession has had a significant impact on the industry. We know that many workers left the industry during the recession, never to return and we need to address these skills gaps and make sure that we’ve got a fully skilled and sustainable UK construction workforce in place.’
More recently the industry Training Board and Sector Skills Council have issued a warning, to Government and industry, encouraging them to learn lessons from the past and take steps to prevent a long term skills shortage of construction workers.
The industry currently supports some 8% of GDP and provides employment for large numbers of graduates and apprentices. Stability in levels of long-term investment plays a critical part in protecting employment and skills.
Experience of past recessions indicates that those leaving the industry now will be highly skilled workers who will choose not to return to the sector when the recovery comes. The result could be chronic skills shortages in craft, technical and professional occupations which will impact on the industry’s ability to effectively contribute to the UK economy for years to come.
It is for forward thinkers to use this situation constructively. Now is the time to train for a career in Construction and to be at the forefront of employable skilled construction workers when the need is most. MET can help, why not visit us on one of our FREE taster days, or book a one to one with one of our experienced course advisors? They offer careers advice and can even help with funding.
So what’s stopping you?