Lancashire Labour Market Focus –Construction
Introduction
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB ) Local Forecasting Model suggests that the City Deal investments in the Preston and South Ribble area alone will support over 4,300 construction job years.
The big challenge is to find all the workers to fill these opportunities.
The Construction Industry has over one hundred different job roles and there are opportunities for all , regardless of age or experience. The construction industry is trying to attract more people into the industry and events take place regularly where interested people can find out more. Visit www.goconstruct.org to find out more about the industry.
Typical jobs:
3D Visualiser, Accountant, Bricklayer, CAD Modeller, Cavity Insulation Installer, Facilities Management, Floor Layer, Joiner, Kitchen Fitter, Landscape Architect, Painter and Decorator, Planner, Regeneration Officer
People Working in Lancashire
At present 14,259 people work in construction in Preston and South Ribble , and in Lancashire the total number employed in construction is 35,328
Predicted Future Demand:
Nationally, Go Construct predicts there will be 220,000 new jobs in Construction over the next five years. This is because of record investment in infrastructure (roads, railways, power stations, sewers); leisure; private housing and the commercial sector.
By 2018, the Construction sector will need an additional 120,000 apprenticeships.
In Lancashire, New building housing will require an annual workforce of almost 3,000 up to 2019. In the same period, it is likely that over 1500 posts will be created in higher level roles e.g. architects, surveyors , and there will be 2,300 jobs in the skilled trades.
After 2019, demand is likely to be 5000 for the annual workforce, for the building new housing workforce; 2,400 higher level jobs each year , and 3,670 per year for skilled trades.
This represents a bigger growth in employment (12%) than the 4% growth of people in training at present.
Skills gaps:
A 2015 Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey of employers said that 53% of respondents had difficulty in filling vacancies , with bricklayers (71%) and quantity surveyors (64%) in particularly short supply. A 2014 CITB survey found that 36% of employers had difficulty filling vacancies, and the most frequent recruitment difficulties reported were in labouring and general operatives, wood trades and other skilled trades.
Qualifications and Training:
In 2013/14, there were 1,090 apprenticeship starts in construction, planning and built environment – 3.8% of the total apprenticeships starts. However, Lancashire is similar to the national profile in terms of apprenticeships starts for the sector.
After a dip in apprenticeship starts in construction because of the effects of the recession , apprenticeship providers say that interest is climbing again.
Only 1.3% of students registered at universities in Lancashire were studying courses related to architecture, building and planning. There are over 66,000 full time equivalent students registered at universities within Lancashire. 20% of these are postgraduate students and only 1.7% of students studying HE qualifications in the Further Education sector were studying construction related qualifications.
Don’t forget: you'll need a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) or SCORE card for most jobs in construction, but there are other qualifications like NVQs and SVQs which can demonstrate that you have the right skills. Some companies might be willing to sponsor you to achieve these to help you develop your career.
Pay and Conditions:
There are so many different and varied roles in the construction industry that rates of pay vary hugely between them. However, some examples of the average salaries from the list of typical jobs above are:
3D Visualiser ( £24,000-£30,000); CAD Modeller (£22,00-£35,000); Facilities Manager (£26,000-£40,000); Kitchen Fitter (£16,000-£28,000) , and Painter and Decorator (£18,000=£25,000).
N.B. these figures are intended as a guide only and salaries will vary greatly depending on location / employer. These figures are from Go Construct.
Local companies:
Many construction companies are small, often with less than 10 employees. There are many people working in construction who are self employed and work on their own.
However, there are large construction companies such as Balfour Beatty, Laing O’Rourke and Carillion , but often these businesses sub-contract parts of a big job to the smaller companies , and self employed building trades’ people.
Remember a job or career in construction provides many opportunities to travel. If you acquire an in-demand construction skill, you could be working on projects across the UK and even internationally. In fact, many UK-based construction companies deliver projects all over the world.
More information
Sector Skills Council: www.citb.co.uk
Go construct: www.goconstruct.org
Apprenticeships: www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships
Higher Education: www.ucas.com
Lancaster University: www.lancaster.ac.uk
University of Central Lancashire: www.uclan.ac.uk
Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership: www.lancashirelep.co.uk
National Careers Service: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
Training Providers: www.lancsforum.co.uk
Lancashire Colleges:
Accrington and Rossendale: www.accross.ac.uk
Blackburn: www.blackburn.ac.uk
Blackpool and the Fylde: www.blackpool.ac.uk
Blackpool Sixth Form: www.blackpoolsixth.ac.uk
Burnley: www.burnley.ac.uk
Cardinal Newman: www.cardinalnewman.ac.uk
Lancaster and Morecambe: www.lmc.ac.uk
Myerscough: www.myerscough.ac.uk
Nelson and Colne: www.nelson.ac.uk
Preston: www.preston.ac.uk
Runshaw: www.runshaw.ac.uk
St Mary’s Blackburn: www.stmarysblackburn.ac.uk