In its ‘State of the Trade’ survey, published last October, the Federation of Master Builders found that 60% of small-to-medium sized construction companies had pressed the pause button on jobs due to a lack of skilled tradespeople. 12% had cancelled work due to a lack of skilled tradespeople and 45% were particularly struggling to hire bricklayers.
A key problem is that the industry has an ageing workforce and young Brits are shying away from entering traditional trades. Some suggest that young people ‘leave’ our industry as young as 12 years old! Sounds weird but think about it. Pre-schoolers and primary schoolkids love the idea of building things (influenced perhaps by ‘Bob the Builder’ and games like Minecraft). But, something changes as they reach their teenage years and suddenly construction is seen as ‘dirty work’ or something for ‘those who don’t go to college’.
So, in today’s blog, we’re going to try to dispel some of those negative ideas and showcase what it really means to be a bricklayer.
Earlier this month, we reported on how the construction industry in the UK will need over a quarter of a million extra workers by 2026, including 26,000 in Greater London and 24,600 across the East of England.
This is going to be a real challenge, not least because the numbers of young people looking to enter the sector are far below the numbers of older workers who are leaving their trade. One YouGov Omnibus survey found that only 3% of young people aged 18-24 had searched for a job in construction.
As schools and colleges across the country come to a close, it’s likely there are a great many young people who haven’t fully decided what to do next. To help, we thought we’d share what we know about some of the key construction trades and so the focus of today’s blog is roofing.