'Construction industry faces continued skills shortage'
12/05/2008(17:04)
A skills shortage in the construction industry is set to worsen creating difficulties for the building sector, a survey has revealed.
In a poll of more than 1,200 managers and directors in the industry by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), 83 per cent said the recruitment of senior management proved difficult while 84 per cent found enlisting middle managers tough.
The survey also found that the majority of construction firms rely on skilled migrant workers already in the UK.
However, a report published recently by the Institute for Public Policy Research found that around half of the people who moved to the UK from countries that joined the EU on May 1st 2004 have left the country while numbers of people arriving from countries such as Poland are falling.
Michael Brown, CIOB deputy chief executive said, "Despite the current credit crunch, 70 per cent of the respondents believe that there will be an increase in construction demand in 2008 together with a worsening supply of middle and senior management.
"Areas such as the Middle East will be a continuing draw for UK talent exacerbating the situation in the UK."
According to Mr Brown, in 2007, the industry's skills council, ConstuctionSkills was only able to allocate 8,500 people with apprenticeships out of 50,000 who applied.
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