At this week’s Conservative Party Conference there was a clear focus on skills, with the Chancellor announcing a £500 million expansion to the Plan for Jobs.  This includes extending the £3,000 incentive payment for businesses hiring an apprentice until 31 January 2022, as well as extending the Kickstart Scheme to March 2022, with applications remaining open from employers and gateways until 17 December 2021.

Businesses can now also benefit from over £1 million funding that has been pledged to support apprenticeships in other businesses.

Since 13 September, levy paying employers have been able to create a pledge of up to 25% of their annual levy funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses.  They can select how much funding they want to transfer and set optional criteria for the types of businesses and apprenticeships they would like to support.

Employers have already pledged over £1 million for the 2021 to 2022 financial year, with many more expected to pledge in the coming weeks.  All businesses can now browse these funding opportunities and apply for funding to pay for 100% of their apprenticeship training and assessment costs (up to the funding band maximum).  Levy paying employers can use their apprenticeship service accounts to review, approve or reject any pledge applications

George Swann FIS Skills and Training Lead said:

This is good news with labour for the finishes and interiors sector in short supply it will not immediately fix the problem, but if employers invest in new talent now it will reduce future impact by creating a pool of qualified individuals.

FIS has established a network of FIS Construction STEM Ambassadors to help expose young people the wide range of opportunities available in our sector. We have linked up with STEM Construction and the Built Environment Ambassadors programme to ensure our network is supported by their resources and training and taps in to a wide range of activities which includes school presentations, careers talks and mentoring.

There are around 700,000 annual school leavers, so we need an army of ambassadors to get to all of them!!  The CLC’s Industry Skills Plan includes a commitment to recruit 7,000 Construction STEM Ambassadors, as FIS represents around 10% of the sector, to do our share of the lifting we need 700.  

The STEM Ambassador programme provides vital training, tools and support – giving you confidence that the message is right and we are working (and learning) consistently as a sector.  Becoming an ambassador will also plug you in to the STEM network and will open up opportunities to visit schools and careers fairs (you need to commit to doing at least two of these a year as part of your pledge).

At FIS we are here to help and have members of our team who have completed the training and are actively working as ambassadors, we are maintaining a network of ambassadors and are using this network to better understand how to target our approach and to develop the resources they need to get the message across.

Anyone working in the sector can be a STEM ambassador, from people who have just completed an apprenticeship through to the CEO/Owner.  We need to represent all roles and opportunities available and really this can be anyone working in your business with a passion for our industry who can get this message across and wants to help spread the word (and build your links with local schools and colleges). 

FIS who members who want to understand get cracking simply need to sign up online to become STEM Ambassador and advise marieflinter@thefis.org that you have started your journey. 

Further information on how to get involved can be found in this short film.  If you like to have a chat about what is involved before committing please call Marie Flinter at FIS on 0121 707 0077 or email marieflinter@thefis.org and we will be happy to help.

In the face of long-term skills shortages, employers are being urged to sign up to Talentview Construction, a new dedicated online platform for those looking to secure their first role in construction, which is now live.

Launched on 21 September, Talentview Construction is completely free to use platform which helps candidates to browse a variety of opportunities by signing up to alerts for job and training opportunities and building their own online profile so employers can find them more easily.

Employers are encouraged to list all their opportunities for new entrants, including apprenticeships and work experience, on the platform. Talentview will sit alongside the Construction Talent Retention Scheme providing a ‘one‐stop shop’ for the recruitment and retention of skills across the industry, and you can watch the recent CLC webinar which outlines how the platform works and the steps to sign up.

With more than 600 relevant apprenticeship vacancies already listed and construction colleges around the country preparing to bring candidates on board, employers can register with TVC and use the scheme to promote their range of early careers opportunities.

Even without the growth of ‘green jobs’, it is estimated that the construction industry needs to recruit more than 217,000 new workers between now and 2025 to support its current activity, including the development of exciting new careers in digitalisation and sustainability[i].

Talentview Construction makes it easier for those searching for such a career in construction to join, taking advantage of an exciting array of opportunities, given the sector’s role at the heart of the UK’s economic recovery. Construction already employs about three million people, providing multiple career paths through the sector.

Mark Reynolds, Group CEO of Mace Group and the Construction Leadership Council’s lead on skills, says:

“More than ever, the industry needs a strong pipeline of talent. Talentview Construction is a window on the industry for all those wishing to enter construction as new entrants and career changers. We must make it easier for people to join our sector to support growth and to improve our levels of diversity – but to do so everyone needs to do more to recruit openly and make flexible opportunities accessible through schemes like this.

 “This is exactly what so many businesses have been crying out for, helping them tackle skills shortages and gear up for future growth. Initiatives such as Talentview Construction – part of the Construction Talent Retention Scheme – have the potential to dramatically improve our industry, but we all need to get behind it if it is to be a success.”

Talentview Construction will enable candidates to browse opportunities by signing up to alerts for job and training opportunities, get advice on construction job roles and the best routes into the industry, and build their own online profile so employers can find them.

Employers can use it to showcase their business to talented new recruits on the TVC site, and upload all their early career vacancies, including traineeships, apprenticeships and graduate jobs. They can also search for suitable candidates and directly contact students and apprentices, as well as connecting more closely with schools, universities and construction colleges.

Talentview Construction is the newest offering from the Construction Talent Retention Scheme (CTRS) which was established by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Construction Leadership Council last summer.

Together with complementary sites like CITB’s Go Construct, TVC and CTRS help to create a ‘one stop shop’ sector talent hub for the attraction, development and retention of people and skills within construction and the built environment, as part of the Government’s broader support to business on skills.

The free-to-use site launches on 21 September, supported by a national media campaign to engage young people and other new entrants considering apprenticeships for next year, as well as graduate roles and other ways into the industry.

Employers can sign up at https://talentview.org/construction or contact Christian Warden on 07903 701503 for a demonstration of the new scheme.

https://www.citb.co.uk/about-citb/news-events-and-blogs/britain-builds-back-construction-will-need-216-800-new-workers-by-2025-to-meet-demand/