As we approach the end of Summer, UK students will have received their Btec, T Level, A level, Scottish Higher or GCSE results. Our sector and industries across the UK will be working to attract apprenticeship candidates and graduates into industry. This is the highlight of the ongoing year-round activities to promote STEM, as well as our members individual education and recruitment campaigns to attract young people into our sector. Keen to tap into the energy and creativity of young people, our members collectively place a huge amount of resource into reaching this talent pool.
To meet the need for both designing and building new projects, and retrofitting and maintaining existing infrastructure, there must be a constant supply of skilled individuals. According to a recent report by the Construction Skills Network, the anticipated annual average of construction output between 2024 to 2028 is forecast to grow by 2.4%, with a peak of up to 4.2% in 2025. It predicts that over 250,000 extra construction workers will be needed to fill the gap and over 2.6.% will be civil engineers and a further 3.3% will be other construction professionals and technical staff, so at least another 20,000 skilled consultants and engineers are needed in a marketplace that already struggles to meet current demand for skilled workers now.
At the Association for Consultancy and Engineering we highlight best practice and inform as well as champion policy decisions that help our members succeed.
In our recent manifesto for the new government, we called for a stable, long term infrastructure strategy and programme of work, underpinned by funding. This would support our members in attracting and retaining talent by offering excellent long term careers for people in the consultancy and engineering professions.
Another key measure we have been keen to promote is for the apprenticeships levy fund, to which our members contribute, to be opened up to fund other training options, so that employers can use their funds to support alternative training schemes to fill any gaps in their workforces.
We collaborate with IfATE, the government agency responsible for coordinating the standards that apprenticeships and technical education are based on. We are incredibly grateful to our members who review occupational standards to make sure they continue to embed industry best practice.
We’re also really encouraged that we’ve seen some of our members promote transferability of skills within their organisations, so that their professionals can move from one workstream or domain to another to stay in their employment. This method of retaining skilled workers is as important as recruitment for meeting the skills demand in our sector.
We work in partnership with educational and government stakeholders to get the best outcomes for our membership and we're looking forward to meeting with Skills England to champion wider learning and training opportunities for young people and skills needed for a thriving built environment sector.
Our members provide excellent career paths for young people in our sector and we want to ensure that their voices are heard. We’re also monitoring the Government's intention to commit to investment in skills and training in the built environment and advocating for this to come to fruition so that together we can build sustainable growth and prosperity for the future.
