REVIEW: CONSTRUCTION
http://www.insider.co.uk March 2020 INSIDER 47
in project starts within education,
defence, health, private and social
housing and infrastructure,” says
Iain Atkinson, associate director of
Scottish recruitment agency Eden
Scott. “However, the question of how
these projects will be delivered is still
up for debate.
“With the exodus of EU workers,
who have bolstered construction sites
over recent years, there is now an
acute skills shortage. This doesn’t just
extend to site and blue-collar staff but
can be seen across all levels of white-
collar professionals, with the industry
and university course uptake still
feeling the knock-on effects of the
recession a number of years ago.
“This has led to wage inflation
and, coupled with continued margin
pressure, makes it ever more difficult
for companies to return profit
on projects.”
Wage inflation is not the only
increasing cost burden, with
higher costs for fuel, haulage and
imported construction materials,
according to The Construction Total
Activity Index.
The Hays Salary Guide 2020
for Scotland for construction and
property shows 59 per cent of
employers expect their activity to
increase over the next 12 months,
57 per cent expect to encounter a
shortage of suitable applicants
when recruiting and 56 per cent of
Scottish construction staff expect to
move jobs.
“Those who are recruiting might
find it difficult, as competition
for jobs is high and fewer people,
particularly migrants, are entering the
Scottish market,” says Claire Sheerin,
director of Hays Construction &
Property in Scotland. “Employers
across all sectors should be aware
of unprecedented changes as
automation and technology evolves.
Within construction, for example,
there’s a range of technologies being
introduced, from tools to enable
better communication such as cloud
and management software, to tech
which can facilitate better design
and visualisation, such as drones and
3D software. This transformation can
add to the skills gap.”
More than 10 per cent of Cruden’s
staff are apprentices. “As output
continues to rise, so too will demand
for more skilled workers,” says
Reid. “The industry needs to ensure
that the work already undertaken
to tackle the skills shortage is not
undone when we leave the EU. The
Cruden Group employs 600 direct
members of staff, including over
70 apprentices. Our significant
investment in our employees’ lifelong
learning and training will be vital to
our continued growth.”
Lesley McLeod, chief executive at
the Edinburgh-based Association for
Project Safety, is unequivocal. “For
years the UK construction industry
has singularly failed to invest in the
trades and crafts needed to build and
renew the country’s homes, business
buildings and infrastructure. Instead,
the sector has largely relied on
bringing in cheaper labour from the
European Union.
“Now that pipeline is in danger of
being switched off with few of the
posts attracting a salary sufficient
to meet the government’s proposed
salary barriers for entry to the
country after the UK has exited
the European Union. This may
signal chaos.
“This isn’t a far-off vision of
problems to come. Projects are
struggling to attract people now. And
all this while school leavers are still
shying away from apprenticeships in
traditional building trades.”
Wallace at Thomas & Adamson
warns: “It’s no secret the construction
industry is facing its biggest skills
shortage since 2007, and it has
become a real battle to recruit and
retain skilled staff. Many entry-level
candidates were lost at the time of
the last recession, and the challengescreated by this have existed ever
since, with those in their mid-20s and
30s deviating from their courses.
“Added to this is the rise in the
ageing workforce, with recent data
showing that one in five employees in
the construction industry workforce
is aged over 55. Over the years,
we have benefited greatly from
rich talent coming out of schools
and universities, and as such have
several programmes in place to
help young people rise through the
ranks including regular mentoring,
coaching towards professional
qualifications, trainee programmes
and apprenticeships.”
Sir Robert McAlpine is to sponsor
a new Career College offering 16
to 18-year olds training in digital
methods of construction based at The
City of Glasgow College, whose twin-
site was constructed by McAlpine. A
pilot curriculum will run from April,
with the full Career College to open
in September.
It will be rolled out next year to
colleges around the country, where
there are more than 20 Career
Colleges, employer-led ventures
providing skills in health care,
hospitality and digital as well as
construction.
Last month the Construction
Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC)
launched its Future Skills Strategy
to promote digital technology to
school pupils, college and university
students, apprentices and those
already in the industry.
The “Play with the Future”
programme will let pupils try out
pioneering equipment housed within
the CSIC’s 35,000 sq ft innovation
hub. The “Construction Virtual
Reality Training” (CONVERT)
programme will let learners
experience different immersive
learning environments including
working at height, using drones a
virtual building environment.
“Simply telling young people
they could have a great future in
construction isn’t that effective,” says
CSIC’s head of public partnerships &
future workforce Rohan Bush.
“But let them play with the tech
that will be part of that future and
they come back wanting to know
more.
“We are excited about this new
strategy. The increased use of digital
technologies is changing how we
work, and gives real opportunities to
work smarter, efficiently and more
sustainably.” ■The sector has largely relied on
bringing in cheaper labour from the
European Union. Now that pipeline is in
danger of being switched off
Lesley McLeod, Association for Projecty Safety (below)