Despite concerns about a recession, the industry’s skills shortages have shot up the agenda once again, with ‘People and skills’ identified as one of the four most important strategic priorities in the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) new vision and leadership summary published in September.

The CLC has stated that it will focus on people issues within the industry, with a big push on attracting talent and enhancing skills for the future. It is also very keen to ensure that, if construction business insolvencies do start to increase, workers at risk of redundancy are quickly redeployed and not lost to the sector.

The issue of recruiting enough people into the sector isn’t a new one, but it is becoming increasingly urgent. In 2017, it was predicted around 500,000 workers are expected to retire from the industry over the next 10 years which doesn’t leave long to fill this gap.

As well as replacing the exiting skills and experience, the industry also needs to recruit 53,200 additional workers every year to keep pace with the levels of demand, according to the CITB’s Construction Skills Network report, including people with new skills in digitalisation, sustainability and offsite manufacturing.

How can employers attract new people into construction?
While it might sound like a mammoth task, there are lots of ways for employers to attract new people to join the industry.

Apprenticeships, traineeships, graduate jobs, placements and internships, T Level courses, work experience and taster opportunities, and any well supported entry-level jobs, all provide great ways for young people to gain the skills and experience they need to forge a career in construction.

If your organisation is currently offering any opportunities like this, make sure they are added to Talentview Construction (TVC), a free online platform that helps individuals to get started in the construction industry.

This month marks the first anniversary since TVC was launched, supported by CITB industry levy funding and backed by Government.

Over the last 12 months, more than 11,600 early careers vacancies have been added to the site, attracting more than 48,000 views from potential applicants.

How can Talentview Construction help FIS members with recruitment?
By using TVC to support with early-careers recruitment activities, you can:

  • Promote information about your business
  • Upload unlimited vacancies and training opportunities
  • Search for local candidates
  • Create saved searches and alerts for people who match your criteria
  • Have direct contact with individuals
  • Manage the recruitment of numerous positions
  • Integrate with existing recruitment systems

The platform can also help you build links with local schools. There are 148 universities, university technical colleges (UTCs), FE colleges and schools across the UK registered on the platform – including the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, Chesterfield College, South and City College Birmingham, and the United College Group London – all of which will be incorporating student registration onto TVC as part of their 2022/2023 intake.

To help you promote vacancies on Talentview Construction, there is a handy Comms Toolkit which has free videos and social media graphics, as well as text that can be used across websites, newsletters and other comms: https://bit.ly/CTRS-TVC-employers-toolkit

For more information on how TVC can support your organisation with recruitment, visit: www.talentview.org/construction