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Hot Topic Join the fight for the industry’s future
Join the fight
for the industry’s future
Nigel Donohue, apprenticeship programme manager for
Sector Skills Council, ConstructionSkills, urges
employers in the industry to help preserve trainee
numbers through the recession...
The 1990s’ legacy
The 1990s’ economic slump had a
profound impact on the level of
skilled workers within the UK’s
construction industry. In fact,
between the years of 1990 and 1993,
the total number of trainees in the
sector fell from around 41,500 to
29,300: a drop of nearly 30%.
And, whilst there was a gradual rise
from 1994 onwards, we didn’t return
to the same level until the year 2000
– a decade later.
Perhaps more telling for the skills
shortages that were to come is the
decrease in workers aged under 20
– the young apprentices. Between
1990 and 1993, numbers of
employees in this category dropped
from just under 170,000 to just over
86,000, a fall of almost half and by far
the biggest percentage decline of any
age group.
At the time, construction
businesses were operating in a very
challenging financial climate and
were under pressure to reduce costs,
as they are now – with headcount
being an obvious target. But the fact
that employers laid off their younger,
less experienced staff before others
is very evident.
These trends have almost certainly
contributed to the skills shortages
that have plagued the industry over
recent years. They also give much
evidence as to why, even despite the
current recession, the most recent
Construction Skills Network (CSN)
forecasts show that the sector needs
to attract an average of 37,000 skilled
new workers each year between 2009
and 2013 to complete planned
projects – recognising that the
industry is set to contract
significantly in 2009 and the majority
of that requirement coming at the
back end of the five year period.
The current climate
Worryingly for the future, the number
of young people in training that have
been laid off during this downturn
has risen sharply since the start of
2009. For this reason, and to help
ensure that the industry has the
requisite skills to cope with the
expected upturn in demand for
construction services from 2011,
ConstructionSkills has launched a
host of new initiatives to help the
sector maintain its existing
apprentices, and to attract new ones.
Our Apprenticeship Matching
Service (AMS), which was launched
in partnership with the Department
for Innovation, Universities and Skills
(DIUS) and the Learning and Skills
Council (LSC), aims to help
employers continue training their
apprentices and, where this is not
possible, find alternative employment
opportunities for the young people at
risk of displacement.
Since January this year, we have
received an average of 53 newlydisplaced
apprentices each week into
the AMS, and the total number that
have registered for support from the
programme now stands at over
2,100. ConstructionSkills’ AMS team,
which offers businesses a range of
advice and support services, has
already assisted over 700 apprentices
either to stay on with their current
employers or to complete their
training with new ones.
However, as there has been a
shortage of employers willing to take
on apprentices compared to the
number of apprentice applications
for some years now, it is not just
existing apprentices that are required
to maintain the industry’s workforce
to meet demand; as an
apprenticeship is the most frequently
used route to qualified entry into the
industry’s trades, there is also a
crucial need to expand training
opportunities wherever we can.
To achieve this goal,
ConstructionSkills is developing new
training models to encourage firms
of all sizes to take on apprentices,
which streamline the recruitment
process and make it more financially
viable for businesses who have been
adversely impacted by the recession.
These models include:
• Group Training Association (GTA):
launched predominantly for small
and medium-sized enterprises,
this system allows a collection of
employers or clients to act as one
organisation and share the
responsibilities of training an
apprentice. The GTA model could be
applied to existing training groups or
federations, or can be set up in
partnership with local authorities.
•Host Employer model: a scheme
where major contractors (usually
medium and large companies) act as
the host employer and take on a
number of apprentices, but secure
work placements for them within
their supply chain.
Not only do apprentices have the
potential to help the entire industry in
preparing for the upturn, they can
benefit each individual employer in
bidding for contracts and retaining
business at this challenging time.
In April 2009, the Office of
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Government Commerce (OGC)
published new procurement
guidelines for public sector
construction projects, which stipulate
that businesses who use apprentices
can be prioritised for publicly-funded
work. Since the Government has
committed to spend through the
recession, the public sector offers an
important revenue stream to the
industry and a commitment to
training apprentices can certainly
support firms in the tendering
process for these contracts.
How employers can get involved
Employers can join the fight for the
industry’s future by looking at
whether they have the capacity to
take on an at risk apprentice through
the AMS, or considering taking on a
new one via the training options
available.
Apprentices who come through
the AMS offer many benefits to
employers. A large amount of them
are near to the end of their training,
which means that they are very close
to being fully operational on site and
require only limited time and
financial investment from businesses
which take them on.
New apprentices can be trained up
to suit an individual company’s way of
working, which means that they are
likely to be a loyal member of staff
both now and in the future. With the
introduction of the GTA and Host
Employer models, there is also now
added flexibility in the recruitment
process and businesses can pool
their expertise and share the
financial investment required.
We understand that not every
business is in a position to take on
trainees at this time, but for those
who can, apprentices are a valuable
source of skills, an important part of
maintaining the UK construction
industry’s competitiveness and a key
means of avoiding further skills
shortages in the future.
For more information about AMS
or ConstructionSkills use our
online enquiry service at
www.abc-d.co.uk/info
quoting number 200
Send in a response
claire.mackle@centaur.co.uk
i
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