British construction must recruit over 400,000 people each and every year between now and 2021 – equivalent to one worker every 77 seconds – if it is to create the homes and infrastructure the nation needs, according to the latest report from Arcadis.

Failure to address the skills gulf could even see the earnings of some tradespeople sky-rocketing inside a generation, leading to the rise of the MINTED workforce – the Most in Need Trades Earning Double.

Failure to address the skills gulf could even see the earnings of some tradespeople sky-rocketing inside a generation, leading to the rise of the MINTED workforce – the Most in Need Trades Earning Double.

The Arcadis Talent Scale has been developed to measure the true extent of the skills crisis across the infrastructure and house building workforce. In house building alone, the study shows that if the UK is to increase output to 270,000 new homes over the next five years, it will need to employ in excess of 370,000 new people. Meanwhile, when it comes to meeting forecast national infrastructure requirements, an additional 36,500 people will need to be employed every year.

When it comes to individual skills, the greatest need is for carpenters and joiners, where demand accounts for nearly one sixth of all national resource requirements. Plumbers, Electricians, and Bricklayers are also in high demand

When it comes to individual skills, the greatest need is for carpenters and joiners, where demand accounts for nearly one sixth of all national resource requirements. Plumbers, Electricians, and Bricklayers are also in high demand, particularly in the labour-intensive housebuilding sector. Meanwhile, the report identifies a need for over 7,400 Civil Engineers and 7,300 Quantity Surveyors.

London and the South East will need to employ more people than any other part of the UK, accounting for nearly 30 percent of total demand (110,000 people). With major national infrastructure programmes such as HS2 and Crossrail 2 already in the pipeline, it is expected that companies will need to draw heavily on the common talent pool of transferable skills if delivery targets are to be achieved.

Outside of London and the South East, the highest skills requirement is in the East of England and the South West, where more than 43,000 and 41,000 additional workers respectively are needed to meet projected regional housing and infrastructure requirements. At the bottom of the table is Northern Ireland, where employment demand accounts for just 3 percent of the national total.

These figures are independent of the impact of any eventual Brexit deal, which is likely to further increase the strain. In the event of a ‘hard’ Brexit scenario – for instance, extending the points-based system currently in place for non-EU migrants – the number of EU construction workers entering the UK could fall at the rate of attrition. If this were to play out, 215,000 fewer people from the EU would enter the infrastructure and house building sectors between now and 2020, further exacerbating the existing labour shortage.

James Bryce, Arcadis Director of Workforce Planning, explained: “What we have is not a skills gap; it is a skills gulf. Systemic underinvestment in the nation’s workforce has contributed to a reduction in UK productivity. Construction employment is already down 15 percent on 2008 and, quite simply, if we don’t have the right people to build the homes and infrastructure we need, the UK is going to struggle to maintain it’s competitive position in the global economy.

if we don’t have the right people to build the homes and infrastructure we need, the UK is going to struggle to maintain it’s competitive position in the global economy 

“However, overcoming a skills shortfall as vast as the one we now face can’t be achieved through education and technology alone. Of course, we need to bring more new talent into the industry but, in the short term, construction will also need to look at those currently working in other industries and dramatically improve its efficiency.

“On top of this, as part of any Brexit deal, the government can help by looking to secure the rights of EU workers currently operating in British construction, simplifying the visa system and minimising the tax burden on workers and business.

“If this fails to happen, many of the projects that the British government have earmarked for economic stimulus could prove more difficult and costly to resource. In the worst case scenario these projects could fail to be delivered at all, reducing our ability to grow the economy and limiting investment in the industry.”

www.arcadis.com

Westferry Printworks owner Northern & Shell and development manager Mace have this week started demolition of Westferry Printworks in London’s Docklands, paving the way for a new waterfront neighbourhood just minutes from Canary Wharf. 

Richard Desmond, founder and owner of Northern & Shell, together with his wife Joy and son Valentine, were on site for the proceedings. The Westferry Printworks development received planning consent in August 2016. The 16 acre site will provide over 700 new private and affordable homes which will be available to buy or rent.

The development is being designed with lifestyle at its heart, and it is hoped will become a place where people will want to live, work and spend quality time. Residents and locals alike will benefit from beautiful open spaces and waterside walks, two new parks and a new south-facing dockside waterfront promenade. They will be able to enjoy a mix of independent restaurants, bars and shops, great sporting facilities, a new community centre and crèche, healthcare amenities, a cultural ‘hub’ and a new 1,200-space secondary school. This will be a place where people will have space to breath, just a short walk from the Canary Wharf business district.

Richard Desmond, commented: “My company, Northern & Shell, was the first owner, developer and occupier in 1982 in London Docklands, and we moved our publishing business and headquarters there. This helped our small business then to expand and we have been proud to be associated with the regeneration of London Docklands for 35 years.  This connection was reinforced with our acquisition of the Express Newspapers group in 2000 together with its groundbreaking printing operation – Westferry Printworks which provided hundreds of jobs for the people of Docklands and the surrounding area.  I am therefore delighted to be implementing our vision for the next generation of Docklands residents with our new neighbourhood here in the centre of London’s Docklands, just minutes from Canary Wharf.”

Following the publication of the Construction Skills Network (CSN) report, Professor Linda Clarke, Professor of European Industrial Relations at Westminster Business School, believes the future for construction, and particularly for construction labour, looks bleak, especially in light of Brexit:

“The Construction Skills Network (CSN) forecasts a worrying outlook for construction activity over the next five years, hugely dependent on infrastructure projects and needing over 35,000 new construction workers every year. However, their forecasts are based on a demand-based model which bears no relation to supply, such as the amount of training taking place, which means that there is no attempt to try to link demand and supply.

Elsewhere in Europe, standards are higher as construction workers qualify to at least the equivalent of National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 3 qualification, whereas in Britain most construction trainees only achieve NVQ level 2.

“There are several problems with this method and with the forecasts. The first is the assumption of a relation between a particular occupational requirement and a particular type of output. However, if productivity falls, as it has been doing, then this relation no longer holds. Given the decline in levels of training and the threats posed by Brexit to recruiting skilled workers from the rest of Europe, we should expect productivity in the UK to fall rather severely.

“Elsewhere in Europe, standards are higher as construction workers qualify to at least the equivalent of National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 3 qualification, whereas in Britain most construction trainees only achieve NVQ level 2. In terms of migration and the Brexit threat to free movement of labour, the ability to make up for this training deficit by recruiting skilled workers from elsewhere in Europe is curtailed.

“A second problem with the recruitment predictions is that they rely on the standard occupational classification, which is particularly problematic in terms of construction occupations. So, unless a miracle happens – such as a massive injection of funds into further education colleges, training workshops, and the introduction of a comprehensive VET programme of at least three years duration to equip young people for a rewarding and productive working life ahead – the future for construction, and particularly for construction labour, looks bleak.”