By Mark Wade, Hays

As with every sector of our economy, the construction industry is facing into a time of great change.

Key drivers such as the push towards a green economy and net zero, as well as the increasing impact of digitisation, AI and software development in construction and manufacturing processes mean that nobody in the industry can afford to stand still. We’ve seen great examples of companies moving to proactively deal with these changes and make the most of the opportunities they represent.

However, as I’ve written about many times in this column, it’s well accepted that the single biggest threat facing the construction industry is the shortage of new skills and talent entering the sector.

It’s a topic I recently talked about at length with Mark Spence, the Managing Director of the Construction Employers Federation (CEF) Northern Ireland, which represents around 70% of all NI contractors including most of the industry’s largest, top tier employers.

Mark outlined to me how, in the last year, the CEF has been working with the Trade Unions in a company called Construction Industry Futures, which commissioned leading business consultants EY to review the local construction market and bring forward a series of recommendations for talent intervention in the market.

“This report, which is now completed, took a variety of approaches to better comprehend the sector as it is today and the path that potentially lies ahead of us,” Mark told me.

“While we passionately believe that what this report has presented is deliverable – we equally believe that the only way we can make substantive progress is by embedding a culture of partnership working which we have seldom seen in recent decades.”

Through a combination of desktop research, questionnaires and stakeholder workshops, the CEF identified six impactful interventions that it believes could make a really tangible positive impact.

• Establish a Construction Skills Forum between education, government and industry – a cross-sectoral group that meet at an agreed frequency to address key issues facing the industry, with a skills focus, sponsored by an independent organisation for maximum impact.

• Review of apprenticeship delivery model – ensuring apprenticeships are delivered in the most appropriate and beneficial way to best equip trainees for site work, provide them with a holistic learning experience and ensure they remain employed in work following their apprenticeship.

• Skills alignment through more effective engagement by and with the education sector – fostering increased dialogue with education (including the private training sector) to achieve alignment to the necessary on-site skills through effective skills gap analysis, future planning, and more agile bitesize learning opportunities.

• Review of pay and rewards packages within the industry – maintaining NI’s competitiveness as an attractive employment market to local employees through improved procurement processes, better pipeline visibility, and selling the benefits of a career in construction.

• Technical skills development for typical construction skills – minimising the impact of trades shortages by ensuring technical skills training is widely available for all, through continuous provision of tutors, multi-skilling of trainees, and better awareness of existing skills gaps.

• Promotion of construction in schools – partnering with primary and secondary schools to boost the awareness of construction as an attractive career path through the improved targeting of students, provision of career advice, and an increasingly joined-up approach.

Mark says that he believes the first proposed intervention – the establishment of a Construction Skills Forum – is absolutely vital.

“It is unquestionable that there are already a number of organisations – such as Women’s Tec – taking major strides to addressing our skills shortage,” he explains.

“However, what the current approach lacks – and desperately needs – is a more collaborative approach between the sector, trade unions, Construction Industry Training Board, Further and Higher Education, the Department for the Economy and private training providers,” he adds.

“The Construction Skills Forum would, in our model, be responsible for deciding priorities, aligning current activities and driving the skills-related strategic agenda for the construction sector.”

He notes that once in place, the Forum would then drive forward the other five key interventions that the CEF’s report has laid out, through a variety of sub-groups involving key industry players.

“The sub-groups would bring together those at the heart of our sector, underpinning this work with further data gathering and research to ensure that we are in the best position we possibly can be to flourish into the future,” says Mark.

“This structure, sitting as a core element reporting to the already established DfE Skills Council, can then act as the driver for change which we have long needed. As we formally launch this report, it is now our role to make the clear and unambiguous case to government of the partnership that our sector wants to see.”

The approach being proposed by the CEF is certainly one that Hays, as a major recruitment partner for many of the industry’s most significant employers, will be getting behind. From working closely with the various industry bodies and associations we know there are several fantastic skills initiatives out there which are having real success. Collaborating more closely can only enhance the industry’s ability to meet skills shortages for the future.