Not just brickies in short supply

It has long been reported that there is a considerable shortage of skilled trades in the construction industry, but it’s not just the more commonly known roles - brickies, joiners, electricians etc - that are suffering.

It is now getting harder to find people to fill equally critically important roles such as quantity surveyors, engineers, buyers and health and safety managers; and people from all quarters of the construction industry - housebuilders, contractors, recruitment agencies - are calling for more to be done to ensure stability in the market.

With a specific division of their business dedicated to Technical Services, Kalcrest are well placed to understand the current state of affairs.

Head of Technical, Martin Baker, commented: “We work throughout the UK across all aspects of building and civil engineering, supplying a range of clients whose requirements are diverse - from site engineers and estimators to project managers or even full project teams.

In 2011 the construction industry contributed £86 billion to the UK economy, employing over 2 million people, so it is critical that this isn’t just maintained but grown and developed. This won’t happen if new talent isn’t nurtured and encouraged to look at the construction industry as a career path. How can we do this? By influencing the next generation of skilled workers where it will have most effect - in school.”

In a recent issue of Recruiter magazine, Redrow CEO John Tutte echoed these thoughts commenting:
“A lack of awareness around the sheer variety of roles available in the construction industry is a huge barrier to recruitment, so educating both young adults and their parents is key to changing perceptions. Careers in construction are some of the most diverse in the economy and range from town planners and architects all the way through to quantity surveyors and engineers.”*

*Source: The Recruiter