Construction Jobs Set To Grow

Construction Jobs Set To Grow

Construction scaffolding is going to be in high demand in the coming years, as experts have predicted that the construction industry is going to grow by 150,000 jobs.

This is in spite of problems with Carillion and warnings that uncertainty surrounding Brexit could cause problems for the construction industry.

Despite this the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has predicted that 15,350 carpenters and 9,350 labourers will be needed for home building alone. Infrastructure construction is expected to see the fastest output growth. It is also expected there will be growth seen in the number of managerial roles as the sector seeks to improve its productivity.

This prediction means that there should be 2.77 million people working in construction by 2022. This is only slightly below the peak in 2008.

CITB Policy Director Steve Radley told The Independent: “Despite all the gloom around Carillion and uncertainty from Brexit, our report’s message is that construction will continue to grow and create more jobs.  

“By 2022, employment will be in touching distance of the heady 2008 peak so we face a massive recruitment and training challenge, which is likely to get harder after Brexit.”

The collapse of construction giant Carillion has put may jobs at risk, as many of the suppliers the organisation outsourced to may not be able to recover their costs, due to the long payment terms Carillion imposed on them.

This means that many companies were forced to take out loans to take on the work they gained from Carillion and their inability to pay those loans back, may in tern result in their own collapse.

There have been warnings about the impact Brexit may have on the construction industry for some time now, with many citing concern over many migrants workers leaving the UK due to lack of security over their right to remain in the country.

Some are arguing that this is already happening and that the number of construction workers in the UK has already dropped.

There have been a number of discussions surrounding how to increase the number of British workers in the construction industry including the development of apprenticeships and T-levels. Some construction bodies have also talked about the importance of encouraging women and ethnic minority groups into working in the construction industry to make up the difference.

The report by the CIBT does point at a slightly mixed picture across the board, with most of the growth expected to be experienced in England and Scotland’s construction industry to remain fairly stable.

Wales is expected to see 4.6 per cent output growth, and Norther Ireland’s is expected to shrink.

This is ultimately good news for the sector, which has been blighted by warnings of doom and gloom as well as the recent warning of contraction of the industry, following slowing growth in January.

The role that house building may take in the growth of the construction industry is an interesting one. All major political parties are calling for more house building to occur, though there are many concerns that the houses being built are not affordable.

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