Who’s responsible for overcoming the current skill shortage?

With the current skill shortage at its most desperate since the recession we will his month look at who is responsible for overcoming these testing times.

Following on from last month’s issue on labour shortage we will concentrate on how the different aspects of the construction industry are attempting the steer the sector towards a brighter future.

As discussed previously the government reacted quickly when faced with a labour shortage crisis within the construction sector in 2009. The strategy adopted was successful in increasing apprenticeship & STEM (science, technology, engineering & maths) based course enrolment across the majority of the UK. However in terms of a future shortage a significant amount of damage had already been caused and as such the industry now faces a skill shortage amongst the reduced number of graduates compared to the late 1990’s & early 2000’s. This comes at a time where a strong construction sector would hugely benefit the recovering economy.

There are a number of important reasons why the skill shortage has now come to the forefront of the industry, none more so than the 2008 recession which created an unstable sector which professionals quickly abandoned in search of more promising opportunities. However following the government’s recent promotion of the apprenticeship scheme & STEM courses the blame for skill shortage has shifted onto the contractors rather than the governments. As with any profession experience is vital to development, in particular on-site training within the construction industry makes up a significant aspect of the professional development. Unfortunately with the technology progressing rapidly within the industry a skill shortage is inevitable. The skill shortage is further enhanced with the often required manufacturer led training on new products. Experienced staff are often chosen to partake in the training courses ahead of the apprentices.

Therefore many contractors would argue that although the majority of the responsibility falls onto their shoulders a small proportion must be placed onto the manufacturers. Recently Mitsubishi have begun running installation and design training courses for their new products. After all the government has provided easier & more cost effective avenues for school/college leavers to enter the industry, the future training should fall to the organisations that stand to benefit the most.  However if contractors & manufacturers were to both train newly qualified operatives the method would only serve to reduce the long term shortage. The current shortage would not be addressed immediately; therefore a more dramatic answer is needed.

The current problem faced by many contractors is supply & demand in relation to time. Contractors do not have the project time to search for reliable qualified staff; therefore the task is often left to agency recruiters. This quite often results in an inflated day rate cost in addition to the agency fees per personnel. Furthermore this current method of easing the skill shortage is detrimental to the long term solution. Unfortunately due to time constraints there aren’t many solutions for the current skill shortage other than employing specialist sub-contractors, which again comes with a greatly increased cost & further impacts on the long term problem.

Although NWP like all other contractors cannot by pass the current shortage, we do try to lessen the impact with our training/project matrix. In the months after the recession Managing Director Tim Keyes alongside Operations Director Darren Williams and the project team recognised the future shortage and began working on a bespoke training process. Twinned with the local further education college we managed to combat the shortage mainly down to our forward order project list at the time of the recession.

Tim Keyes adds – “Not long before the recession we had started work on a Hotel & Country club, we had also secured a few student accommodation projects. This allowed us to book the site staff onto courses in the weeks in between the completion of one project and the start of another. This meant the apprentices were gaining valuable experience on site whilst still keeping up to date with the latest manufacturer training programs. We saw how well this worked and have continued it forward.”

“Having a good relationship with the local further education college has also helped NWP. In addition to the 4 apprentices we employ every September we also offer the opportunity for young designers to join our in house design team every January. This usually comprises of the student working alongside our designers on current projects 3 days a week for 6 – 8 weeks and gives them a fantastic opportunity to experience real world design processes.”

Although the shortage hasn’t impacted as harshly as originally predicted, there is still a danger to smaller contractors. NWP will continue to use the training Matrix and work in conjunction with manufacturers to offer the best training possible to our staff, in particular our new apprentices.

There is no doubting the effect the labour/skill shortage has, and continues to have on the construction industry post-recession. However with a strong economy, increased numbers applying for apprenticeships & STEM courses and the additional manufacturer based training the sector is fast approaching its most exciting period. NWP hope to progress alongside the developing sector & look forward to the challenging projects beginning in the near future.

Sam Evans