We're calling on construction firms across the UK
to help tackle the skills shortage in the industry by
helping some of their community’s most vulnerable
people get back into work.
It has been predicted that the UK construction
industry will create around 190,000 new jobs by the
end of 2018 but there is a growing fear that there
will not be the talent to fill them. In fact, our recent
research revealed that the UK construction industry
could lose almost 200,000 EU workers post-Brexit,
should Britain lose access to the single market.
We're urging construction firms to provide routes
into employment for young people who have expe-
rienced homelessness by offering more training-led
programmes, adapting their working practices
and getting involved with specialist "back-to work"
schemes for those facing barriers.
Ready for work
One such scheme that has proved highly successful
is Business in the Community’s Ready for Work
programme, which over 150 businesses have adopt-
ed, supporting people who are at risk of homeless-
ness through training, work placements and their
progress into employment. In return, businesses,
such as global construction firm Carillion, benefit
from cost-effective recruitment opportunities and
stronger links with their local community.
The Ready for Work programme changes lives. It
has trained and equipped our job coaches to work
with vulnerable candidates, enabling us to offer over
1,100 work placements across services and con-
struction contracts. In turn, it’s brought some in-
spiring personal development for those job coaches,
and brought new talent into our business that might
otherwise have been overlooked.
David Picton, Chief Sustainability Officer, Carillion
Delivering more affordable homes
Thousands of British construction workers are com-
ing up for retirement age and the RICS has long-
warned the Government that the shortage of skilled
workers — particularly quantity surveyors and
bricklayers — is detrimentally affecting the house
building industry, with an estimated 1.8 million
new rental properties needed by 2025.