53
PRO INSTALLER JULY 2015
PRO RECRUITMENT
@proinstaller1
2015 Marks
a Change in
Construction
Martyn Makinson, Managing
Director of Ionic Recruitment, the leading recruitment consultancy within
the construction industry,
reflects on the Conservative
government’s investment in
the housing market and the
affect on apprentices:
“George Osborne announced
a new ‘Help To Buy’ ISA as part
of the budget back in March; for
every £200 a first-time buyer saves
towards a home, the Government
will give them a £50 top-up.
Furthermore, the Government has
set a substantial target of building
200,000 new starter homes by
2020 and plans to release public
land for the construction of up to
150,000 new homes.
“While this is a positive step for
‘generation rent’ (only 1.4 million
homeowners in the UK are aged
between 25 and 34, according to
The Telegraphy), the issue for the
construction industry will become one of supply and demand.
The industry will be expected to
demonstrate that it has the capacity to deliver more new homes.
“At Ionic Recruitment, we believe
that the Conservative government
must now support the construction sector by developing the skills
of young apprentices, if they are
to deliver on promises and build
more homes to sell at affordable
prices.
“Construction, which represents
around 6% of the UK economy,
was badly hit by the most recent
recession and is still trying to
recover from 400,000 job losses, while replacing increasing
numbers of people in an ageing
workforce.
“Encouraging higher qualifications could be a positive step for
the industry, and this is something
which the Conservative government has already promised. The
Party has outlined its plans for a
‘Degree Apprenticeships’ initiative. Degree Apprenticeships are
designed by businesses, universities and colleges to combine
the academic study of a degree
with the practical experience of a
skilled job.
“By providing better training for
apprentices, we may see the emergence of a better qualified young
workforce and also a more motivated workforce, thanks to the
extra investment. It is also worth
considering that by introducing
a more challenging qualification
process for apprentices, we are
likely to see a change in attitude
toward construction and what it
has to offer.
“With current employment
gaps and shortage of construc-
tion tradespeople, as well as
the government’s investment in
the housing market, now is an
opportune time to consider a
career as a tradesperson within
the construction sector. At Ionic,
we are keen to communicate this
widely to encourage more young
people to enter into the industry and progress in their chosen
profession.”
More work and less
play for constructions
stretched workforce
A shortage of skilled labour is among the chief concerns
for construction businesses; something Glenigan have
covered in their post-recession challenges briefing.
However, the industry
as a whole has so far
managed to meet expanding demand, even
if the rate of growth
has eased during the
last six months. Employment data shows
that the pressure on
industry capacity has
so far been largely absorbed by existing staff
working longer hours.
However, industry
recruitment will need
to strengthen over the
coming year if construction is to accommodate
rising workloads.
According to official ONS
statistics during the first
quarter of 2015 there were
2,124,000 jobs in construction. This was a rise of 0.3%
compared to the previous
quarter, with construction’s
workforce growing by an
estimated 1.3% over the
preceding 12 months and
continuing the slow pace of
employment growth seen
over the last two years.
Indeed 2014 saw construction employment rise
by just 2% in contrast to
the 9.5% surge in construction output during the
year.
‘demand for construction workers
grew more slowly than any other
employment sector during May, across
both permanent and temporary roles’
This is in contrast to the
experience during the
downturn, when con