370,000 new workers must be employed by the housebuilding industry.

Research from consultant Arcadis shows that the industry needs to recruit 370,000 people between now and 2021 – which means that the sector must recruit one worker every 85 seconds to meet swelling housing demand!

This increase in recruitment is to cope with predicted workloads, as the UK are required to raise output to 270,000 new homes per year over the next five years. 

Carpenters and joiners are the most sought after trades, with demand for them accounting for almost one sixth of all national resource requirements. Bricklayers, plumbers and electricians are also in high demand particularly in the labour-intensive housebuilding sectors.

Kalcrest Site Services has worked exclusively in construction recruitment for more than a decade, so have the advantage of an extensive database of qualified and experienced workers, which allows us to supply new workers to the housebuilding industry.

‘’Having been established for over 15 years, we have the advantage of an extensive database of tried and tested skilled workers.  As with most things, the skills shortage is an issue of supply and demand and as a result the rates of pay that skilled tradespeople demand will continue to increase. Housebuilders, along with the rest of the industry, will have to take this into account”. Steve Davies, Managing Director, Kalcrest Site Services Ltd.

James Bryce, Director of workforce planning at Arcadis, said: “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.”

“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.”

Kalcrest has an exceptional track record in the supply of permanent temporary workers to the construction and housebuilding sectors and can help you to source everyone from site labourers to senior project managers for assignments anywhere in the UK.

For full details of our recruitment services or to speak to one of our team about staffing for a current or forthcoming project, please call us on 01709 720348 or contact us via info@kalcrest.co.uk.

Source: House-builder