Planning future construction skill requirements: understanding labour resource issues

Abstract

Construction is a labour-intensive industry, which places heavy reliance upon the skills of its workforce. These skills need updating continually as many of the trades involved in the industry become increasingly specialized. During the 1980s, there was a rapid rise in construction activity within the UK, followed by a sudden but short-lived boom accompanied by skill shortages. The construction industry is now experiencing a deeper and longer lasting recession than originally predicted, resulting in valuable employees in all sections of the industry being lost - a high proportion of whom will not return to the construction industry. The construction industry is predicted to grow in the period after the recession by an average of 3% per annum until the year 2001. With this growth the industry is expected to experience considerable skill shortages in both traditional and new skill areas. Construction is in a period of rapid cultural change accompanied by the introduction of new technologies and new ways of organizing construction activities. Powerful national and multinational clients will continue to influence the choice of these technologies through their demands for faster construction times. The construction industry will continue to face increased competition in search of eligible recruits to train accordingly. Employment within the construction industry will continue to move away from large and medium sized firms to small firms and working proprietors. In the 1980s, self-employment and the use of specialist labour-only sub-contractors increased as training levels declined. This trend will hamper the industry's ability to train people for future skill needs. This paper aims to assist interested parties in the construction industry understand and realize the importance of labour resource issues and the need for long-term planning of labour resource requirements, so allowing them to train and retrain people to address the predicted skill shortages

The Case for Family-Friendly Work Practices in the Australian Construction Industry

“…The availability and perceived quality of employment alternatives is recognised to be a key factor in job commitment and turnover. Already construction is dropping in career appeal, and shortage of skills has been highlighted as an issue (Agapiou et al, 1995). In the 1999 edition of the Jobs Rated Almanac, civil engineering fell from 18 th to 70 th position in expressed job preference and 14 construction trades were rated in the bottom ranks.…”

“…Increasing the numbers of professional women in the construction industry is consistent with policies on equal opportunity but is also recognised to be an important facilitating factor in changing the construction industry's traditional adversarial culture (Court and Moralee, 1995). In addition, proponents of diversification argue it leads to a more responsive organization (Dainty, 2000) Furthermore, there is evidence that the construction industry will need to recruit more women if its future labour demands are to be met (Agapiou et al, 1995). Research suggests that, regardless of employment status, women perform two to three times more household work than their partners (Demo and Acock, 1993).…”

“…Women are under-represented among construction industry professionals (Court and Moralee, 1995;Agapiou et al, 1995;Dainty et al, 2000). Increasing the numbers of professional women in the construction industry is consistent with policies on equal opportunity but is also recognised to be an important facilitating factor in changing the construction industry's traditional adversarial culture (Court and Moralee, 1995).…”

Building Job Quality from the inside-out: Mexican Immigrants, Skills, and Jobs in the Construction Industry

“…Second, immigrants with Mexican construction experience tended to have a much wider repertoire of skills than was typical of U.S. construction workers who had not completed an extended apprenticeship program (Lee 1981), especially those U.S. workers who were more likely to have specialized abilities in a single task area acquired through contractor-sponsored training (Agapiou, Price, and McCaffer 1995). Employers and supervisors interviewed for this project often acknowledged greater breadth of skill among their Mexican immigrant workforce in comparison with native-born workers.…”

Multiskilling in Construction ‐ a Strategy for Stable Employment

“…-the introduction of new technologies which have redefined the skills required (Agapiou et al 1995;SLIM report 2002;Wells and Wall 2003); -the growth in self-employment and the use of labour-only subcontractors which have reduced the commitment and investment in training within the industry (Alinaitwe 2008;Chini et al 1999;Druker and Croucher 2000;Haksever et al 2002;Janssen 2000). Self-employed craftsmen, in turn, appear unable to effectively manage their own qualification improvement issues and there is a direct correlation between the fall of trainee numbers and the numbers of self-employed (Crowley et al 1997;Mackenzie et al 2000;Syben 1998); -the poor image of the industry which unfavourably affects its popularity as a career choice (Dainty et al 2004;SLIMreport 2002;Tarnoki 2002).…”