Skilled Workforce Decrease Threatens Construction Future

An eye-opening article in Britain’s Construction Enquirer this week reported on the looming predicament the construction industry is facing: the aging workforce and the resulting imminent shortage of skilled craftsmen.  Editor Aaron Morby interviewed Mark Farrar, Chief Executive of CITB-ConstructionSkills about the latest statistics reported by that company.

The numbers paint an ominous picture of an impending skilled workforce shortage.  The article reports:

“The number of workers aged 55 years and over in the industry has increased by 65% since 1990, while those aged 24 and under has fallen by more than 40%.”

Calling the situation a “retirement time bomb”, Farrar warns that the industry must make every effort to attract young people and to provide training and career opportunities in order to be ready for the increased demand which will be felt once the economy recovers.  The article quotes Farrar:

“There are fewer job vacancies available at the moment, but it has also impacted badly on the perceived attractiveness of the sector in the eyes of many young people in terms of it not offering stable and progressive career opportunities.  The risk is that the ageing workforce, coupled with a failure to train and attract sufficient people now, will result in a skills vacuum and manpower shortage in the future.”

CITB-ConstructionSkills is a company which works with construction companies through training, securing funds for training, industry support and other services to ensure that the United Kingdom maintains a safe, professional and fully qualified construction workforce.