Skills Crisis Looms - Is Collaboration the Answer?

The construction industry is facing a national skills shortage and according to CITB, the UK needs 216,800 new workers by 2025 to meet demand. With projects such as HS2 and the demand for affordable housing, most regions will witness significant growth in infrastructure and property projects, but do not have the workload capacity to handle this growth.

Ultimately, there is a bridge between the education and construction sector and old stereotypes still linger. How do we address these issues and inform the next generation that the construction industry is full of opportunity and prospect? Some groups are tackling the problem head on, and our committee member Luke has spoken to two of these organisations.

Regeneration Brainery

Firstly, we spoke to Judi Greenwood who runs the CIC, Regeneration Brainery, an academy for 14 – 21-year-olds to inspire, teach and place the next generation into roles across the UK. Judi and her team have worked with over 4,000 young people and are backed by the likes of Lloyds Bank, Homes England, Bruntwood and more.

Luke: Why does the Regeneration Brainery exist and are we as an industry doing enough to inspire the next generation?

Judi: RegenB was established as a work experience platform aimed at inspiring a more diverse range of young people into careers in the property and construction industry. Often the route into the industry is through people you know such as parents, and other family members, the result is group think. There is not enough diverse voices in the industry, everyone is the 'same'!

More could be done by industry professionals to raise the awareness of careers available by offering to visit schools (especially the harder to reach ones), structuring work experience, and simply by being much more visible and accessible to young people.

Luke: I totally agree and having experienced the work the Brainery is involved in, I can say first hand that we are not in touch with the majority of young people. One issue worth noting is the stereotypes in the industry, how do you think we should challenge these stereotypes and ensure accessibility to all?

Judi: Stereotypes can be challenged through raising awareness and allowing more access through paid work experience, paid internships and work placements. More people should offer this and while there is a lack of diversity in available mentors, that shouldn’t stop us. As always, everything is reactionary rather than proactive and without government intervention and a higher level of investment from each company, this will continue to be an issue!

Luke: Agreed. Final question, in your opinion, what is the main obstacle to addressing the skills crisis?

Judi: We don’t have enough young people coming into the industry. Everyone wants a short term, overnight fix. Too many people are working in silos, i.e., all the construction companies sign up to social value but its rarely a tangible investment sum (eg they allocate say 20% of construction costs to social value – but is this really a figure in the bank?) they all work separately with their own social value goals and apprentice targets. Such a waste of resources. We should all be collaborating to fix an industry wide problem!?

Save the Construction Initiative (SCI)

Luke then spoke to Zoe Brooke, Founder of SCI, an industry driven taskforce working to influence the stability of the UK construction industry. With their official launch in January 2023, SCI has already grown a large professional committee and established support from leading public sector figures such as Tom Stannard, Chief Executive of Salford City Council.

Luke: Thanks for speaking with me today Zoe. Could you explain what SCI is and how people can get involved.

Zoe: In an industry that is aiming for better, faster, and greener delivery, the Save Construction Initiative is an industry driven taskforce working to influence the stability of the UK construction industry. With the construction industry suffering from 3,000 insolvencies a year (more than any other industry), we are acting as the voice of the collective and making the industry and its people resilient by challenging behaviours that make the sector vulnerable.

We have our official launch event on the 20th January (9am - 12pm) and this will be hosted at HOME in Manchester. Tickets are ￡35 and we welcome all who want to share their views on how to challenge the current status quo in the industry.

Luke: In your opinion, what are the main obstacles to enticing the next generation to our industry?

Zoe: The legacy of business failure, lack of knowledge about the 186 roles available to them and the perception that we are just wet trades. Currently, there is a big pull towards more digitally focused careers or hair & beauty which is perceived to be more appealing.

Paired with this, the schools struggle to expand construction on the curriculum when there are subjects that are obligatory. Having mandatory subjects can prohibit construction as a choice in the “option basket”

Luke: I totally agree, the issue is primarily around the education industry not understanding the scope of roles within the construction industry and the potential for students of all potential and capability. How do you suggest we change the perception of our industry?

Zoe: As a collective, SCI, Manchester Society of Architects, RICS, CIOB, CIBSE and National Federation of builders is already making headway into changing external perceptions regarding the industry’s image with a new campaign being released in the new year which will actively encourage new entrants into the sector.

Furthermore, there needs to be support from the government to drive the message that there are great career prospects within the construction sector and to support initiatives such as SCI who are investing time in cultivating the sector.

Luke: Final question, how is SCI addressing the skills crisis in the construction industry?

Zoe: As part of our mission and vision we have a “Duty of Care” acting as a knowledge society to promote positive outcomes through a shared education, influencing personal and professional growth for the betterment of our industry.

The Save Construction Initiative is a people centred movement and is taking responsibility for repairing the problem with its its followers, supporters, and collaborators and working with schools, the enterprise advisor networks, employers, industry innovators and manufacturers to ensure the skill sets align to current methods of construction.

G4C North West would like to thank both Judi from the Regeneration Brainery and Zoe Brooke from SCI for contributing towards this article. The skills crisis is a real threat to our industry and we need to work collaboratively to entice and encourage the next generation. Everyone has a part to play and you can contact either Judi or Zoe if you'd like to support either/both the Regeneration Brainery and SCI.

SCI are hosting their launch event on the 20th January and you can find tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-save-construction-initiative-launch-tickets-449351521497