Labour Shortage

Since 2008 the United Kingdom has been experiencing a shortage of skilled workers across all industries. The majority of professions have struggled to find skilled personnel since the recession; it is believed although the current situation has shown signs of improvement, the construction industry is approaching a ‘future shortage’. This week we will look at what caused this drop & how NWP electrical & mechanical have dealt with it.

The global recession began in December 2007, with Britain recognising its inclusion in the summer of 2008. Caused by a huge drop in the property market and individuals lack of confidence following the banking crisis the recession soon began affecting the construction industry which showed signs of depression almost instantly. Investors had begun withdrawing their crucial backing from the troubled market even before the recession was announced as the industry had already shown signs of decline, meaning a high margin of construction projects remained unfinished. As uncertainty within the industry grew many professional personnel pursued other employment opportunities due to their transferable skill set. This mass exodus created an instant shortage within the industry that would last years, creating a further negative affect on the economy with unemployment reaching its highest level for 20 years. The impact worsened furthermore when skilled migrant workers began returning to their birth country in search of greater opportunities, this figure deemed to be nearly 40% from 2009 to 2012.

In addition to the instant shortage the industry was facing a ‘future shortage’ as the number of people enrolling on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) based courses dropped significantly.  This future shortage was of huge concern to the Government for two main reasons. The first being the current faltering construction industry as a whole, the second being the very real possibility of the economy dropping into another recession once the future shortage became actual. As such the government began working on a method of reducing the double impact the recession could have on the construction industry. They began investing heavily in apprenticeship schemes in the hope it would lessen the effect of the ‘future shortage’. In addition they also looked at the curriculum within schools and began encouraging students to pursue engineering based qualifications. This was further encouraged following the devastating tsunami in Japan in 2011. Although Japan had a high percentage of graduates from STEM based courses, their current curriculum doesn’t encourage practical learning meaning their particular shortage was personnel without experience rather than the UK’s graduate shortage. It is estimated within the UK nearly 400,000 personnel have left the construction industry, or have undertaken degrees in more promising sectors.

With the government putting more emphasis on practical learning and further education by way of apprenticeship schemes a certain responsibility had fallen on to companies within the industry to ensure these apprenticeship schemes where fore filled. NWP utilised the new apprenticeship scheme to maximum effect recruiting 6 apprentices. These apprentices were divided into the 4 different departments within the company, 2 would be undertaking their training within the mechanical division, 2 would be within the electrical division with the remaining two split between the renewable technology department & the estimating department. NWP endeavour to recruit new apprentices every summer. Running concurrently with the apprenticeship schemes NWP also began a work experience program in 2010 offering young designers the opportunity to work within NWP’s design team for 8 weeks whilst completing their qualifications.

NWP realised at an early stage that although the headquarters of the company were in Kinmel Bay, North Wales the recession would not allow for the operations to remain local, with that in mind Managing Director Tim Keyes took the decision to seek developments across the UK. A decision that would see NWP open 3 satellite offices, the first in London, followed by Edinburgh & finally Cardiff. Although the vast majority of development now lie across the border in England & Scotland a large percentage of employees reside in North Wales. NWP’s current recruitment policy ensures a percentage of the installation team are employed from the surrounding area of each development.

“We always try and build an installation team of existing NWP operatives, some of which came through our original apprenticeship program, and local labour. That local labour will then be moved onto the next project should it be close enough for their commute. In Edinburgh for instance we have completed 4 student accommodation projects; the installation team has remained consistent throughout each development, the team will move onto our next scheme (24 apartments & a Lidl Supermarket) in May – Tim Keyes.”

Although NWP’s operational area has progressed to include the whole of the UK, it has been a steady increase, the apprenticeship program allowed NWP to train the chosen operatives on the job whilst they gained their qualification at the local further education college. NWP also offer professional development once an individual’s apprenticeship is complete with 70% of their current site supervisors progressing from mate to supervisor.

NWP also have a project engineer responsible for each district who work alongside the site supervisors. We believe this approach gives added support throughout the installation team with a dedicated point of contact for all installation operatives on site and within the head office. In addition to this structured management system once NWP have been awarded a project in a new location we will begin tendering on schemes within a close proximity to that recently won projects. For instance we currently have 3 projects under development in Finsbury Park, London.

In addition NWP take advantage of the ‘just in time’ delivery method, a method we have used across many of our projects in the past including Hotel Football, Old Trafford. This particular method ensures our sites are safe, but also ensures they have the right amount of operatives on each site every week. The ‘just in time’ method assists when initial project plans are put in place by the Project Manager and our Operations Director Darren Williams.

As mentioned the shortage is still affecting the construction industry across the United Kingdom, with signs it will only worsen over the coming months due to the future shortage becoming actual. In 2013 the government began surveying the affected industries in terms of labour shortages and found that 9 areas across all professions were experiencing massive shortages. However when the survey was carried out again in 2014 this figure had risen to 43 areas, which included all aspects of engineering, in fact only nursing & teaching ranked worse. Furthermore when the London chamber of commerce (LCCI) surveyed the construction industry they found that an additional 20% of construction managers, surveyors & electricians will be required over the next 4 years to keep up with the current demand.

Over the last 12 months nearly 700,000 jobs have been created within the construction industry, however employees are finding it increasingly difficult to find skilled workers, this has been accredited to newer technology become more labour intensive, the training for which is not currently included within the apprentice schemes on offer. Although the current scheme has effectively reduced the shortage compared to the figures the government originally estimated, it is falling short with regards to renewable technology which is becoming more and more prominent into today’s industry.

Enrolment onto STEM based university courses is once again at a steady level across England & Wales, and apprenticeship schemes across England have increased by over 160,000 participants since 2013. This is in contrast to Wales where the apprenticeship enrolment numbers have fallen since the recession and continue to do so. It would seem although the future shortage is currently under control in England, more work is required in Wales to avoid another crisis.

Sam Evans

Design Engineer NWP Electrical & Mechanical Services.