Building a skilled and competent construction industry
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) Northern Ireland hosted a round table
discussion with key stakeholders in the construction sector to discuss the opportunities and challenges of skills development.
How prepared is Northern Ireland’s construction industry to meet the ambitions of 2050 and beyond?
Mark Spence
Undoubtedly, 2050 is a weighty date in all of our minds when considering ambitions for carbon neutrality. Progress towards net zero is still in the early stages and being planned in the challenging context of a lack of political direction and the lack of an investment strategy. For the construction industry to be prepared to meet future challenges, we need a project pipeline that will bring confidence to the market. Without that, we will not address the challenges of a skills shortage, an ageing workforce, and difficulties attracting young people. Government investment and support for the construction industry must underpin efforts to demonstrate that construction is a viable career.
Lynn Carvill
People are the most important asset of any industry and that is where focus is required. We need to make the industry attractive to younger people, but we also need a recognition that we are in competition for skills with a range of other industries. I think there is a greater need for strategic oversight to ensure the construction industry is an attractive and viable career option, if we are going to meet the demands of the future.
Barry Neilson
The past 20 years are evidence that the shape of the industry 20 years from now is unpredictable. However, through much change and flux, what is evident is that the construction industry has always risen to the challenges, whether that is around skills, new construction methods, or project management changes. Is the industry prepared for what we will meet in 2050? No, but can it be prepared to deliver on the demands? Absolutely. However, to do so there is a need for structural changes around how we bring people into the industry and how we train people to improve it.
Gavin McGuire
One of the biggest challenges is getting the balance between short-term delivery and that strategic outlook of what the future holds. While the construction industry in Northern Ireland has demonstrated its resilience, it has done so through firefighting on a regular basis and operating with very short project pipelines of between three to six months. When you consider challenges like rising costs, staff shortages, and regulation changes, there is little room for long-term considerations. A clear long-term vision for the industry would be very welcome.
Padraig Venney
Skills shortages in the construction industry have been longstanding and it is evident that part of the solution is making the sector more attractive to younger members of society. A lot of government departments feed into the industry, but much of the work is siloed. If we are to meet future demands then it requires a joined-up approach with an overarching commitment to create an industry that is attractive for younger people.
Don Burns
In my experience, the challenge is more nuanced and centres more on retaining young people in the industry rather than that initial attraction. The attraction exists. A major government arm’s length body recently had over 480 applications to a call for six electrician apprenticeships. However, when we get young people into the industry, it can take between three to five years for them to qualify and earn an attractive wage. The reality is that in that timeframe, other industries and sectors can appear more appealing. If we want to have an industry that can deliver on future challenges, we need to improve the attractiveness of not only entering the industry, but the long-term benefits of staying there.
What transformative tools will best ensure the construction industry workforce is adequately skilled to deliver on future demands?
Barry Neilson
We have to change how we educate and recruit the construction workforce. Construction is one of the very few industries which can bring people in with low or no qualifications and develop them to build a career, yet we consistently put up barriers for entry to the sector. We need to move away from a focus on just qualifying for the core skills and look at how we upskill and reskill people for the multitude of different jobs that are available within the industry. Take digital for example, if we can integrate digital into our teaching methods, we will make huge strides in ensuring that new entrants are digital ready for a future workplace.
“There is a need for structural changes around how we bring people into the industry and how we train people to improve it.”
Barry Neilson
Padraig Venney
There is a need to transform how we manage and utilise apprenticeships. Currently, apprentices are expected to go far too long before realising a proper pay packet and that needs to change if we are going to attract the right people. Additionally, in Northern Ireland, we have an age barrier of 24, which does not exist in England. A young person at the age of 22 or 23 may decide that they want to go into construction but are presented with a barrier when they hit the age of 25. In NHBC, we are running an apprenticeship programme across a number of regions in the UK which fast tracks qualifications for a range of specialties. I believe there is a role for a similar approach in Northern Ireland.
Don Burns
The length of time it takes to do an apprenticeship and achieve qualification is too long and that is a barrier. A further barrier is a requirement for academic qualification to gain an apprenticeship. There are young people out there who could have the best hand skills and have a real passion for a particular trade but are hindered by a lack of academic qualifications. What those young people often opt to do is to go and work in an unskilled job for similar money to an apprenticeship. If we can make apprenticeships more accessible, then we can make transformative changes to encourage these people into the industry and to build a skilled career.
Mark Spence
Policy has a transformative role. In 2022, the Construction Employers Federation set up Construction Industry Futures alongside Unite and GMB trade unions and commissioned EY to review the local construction market and bring forward a series of recommendations for talent intervention locally. The recommendations highlighted the need for a skills forum, where a variety of stakeholders can meet together and tease out issues. By way of example, we have already addressed a finding that the average rate being paid to a young apprentice was well below what the same person would earn working in a filling station. It was a small but important step. At the launch of the joint Industry Skills Review, Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong proposed the idea that we establish a ‘prospectus’ for the construction industry, allowing parents and school leavers to adequately assess the options and routes in the industry in full. It is an idea that I think could be transformative for attracting more young people and greater diversity to the sector.
Lynn Carvill
Bringing in more women to the industry would be a transformative change. Currently, 99 per cent of construction apprentices are male. We have put in place a number of interventions to encourage young females into the sector but there are still major barriers around retention, because the training and workplace environments are male-orientated. If we want to create a better-skilled workforce, in the context of skills shortages, then greater diversity is a no-brainer. However, a lot needs to change, and more resources are required to make this happen.
“If we want to create a better-skilled workforce, in the context of skills shortages, then greater diversity is a no-brainer.”
Lynn Carvill
Barry Neilson
We need to foster the enthusiasm that exists naturally in young children for construction and building into a clearly defined career path. That may sound ambiguous but we have recently ran a pilot construction bootcamp for schools onsite here at CITB NI and the enthusiasm and excitement of the children, both boys and girls, is clear to see. Somewhere after those early years, children are losing that enthusiasm which comes naturally to them and I think it is incumbent upon all of us to try to ensure that they do not disengage with the construction and built environment sectors too early. There are up to 3,000 career paths within the construction industry and while promoting each one can be difficult, the general idea of coming into the construction industry and creating a career that suits your talents is an easy sell.
Gavin McGuire
The construction industry is worth around £3 billion per annum to Northern Ireland plc but the value of the sector is not promoted to the extent that it could be. In particular, I feel strongly that we do not put enough emphasis on apprenticeships and their value to both the sector and the wider community. The current education system educates for unemployment in many cases, pushing people towards university degrees when we have a sector able and willing to train and develop people with skills to keep them employed for a lifetime. However, that proposition must be made more attractive.
What are the challenges to delivering a safe, professional, and fully qualified workforce across the whole of the construction industry?
Gavin McGuire
Mental health is a big problem for the industry. It is a stressful sector to be involved in and the industry has not prioritised the wellbeing of its workforce. To help with this, we are developing mentoring programmes to help individuals who are starting out in their construction careers to ensure that safeguards are put in place. If the support networks exist, then we can dispel the legacy perception of construction as a volatile industry and make it a more attractive career choice.
Padraig Venney
I would put skilled trade in Northern Ireland up against anything I have seen across the UK, but where I think that is being let down is in relation to safety and the working environment on site. Some rural housing developments in Northern Ireland are still being built on sites that resemble the 1980s for safe working environments. It would not be acceptable elsewhere and there needs to be recognition that this needs to change if we want to encourage people to pursue an attractive career in construction in Northern Ireland.
“A pipeline of projects allows companies to train and develop skilled workers accordingly.”
Gavin McGuire
Don Burns
One of the main challenges is perception. A lot of young people are leaving school and are ill-equipped for the construction workforce, or at least what they perceive the construction industry and the culture to be like. Employers and schools have a role, working collaboratively, to set out what the industry is and the opportunity it presents. If the perception is normalised then it becomes more attractive to the workers of the future.
Barry Neilson
I would like to change the language slightly and say that what we want is for the industry and education sector to combine to deliver a fully competent workforce, as opposed to a fully qualified workforce. Qualification does not necessarily represent quality delivery and so industry has a large part to play in the education of our future workforce. One of the greatest challenges to the attraction of the construction sector is that people often view the construction sector of the past and not of the future. The challenge is presenting the construction industry as the innovative and exciting industry it is.
“We need to improve the attractiveness of not only entering the industry, but the long-term benefits of staying there.”
Don Burns
Lynn Carvill
If you want to raise the standards of an industry, a good starting point is increased diversity. Today, we still see issues around standards, facilities, and health and safety. If the working environment is sculpted to accommodate everyone, then invariably standards rise for everyone and ultimately wellbeing outcomes are increased. It is also worth stating that today’s young people are different from the past generation. They have different standards and they have different needs, and the industry needs to recognise and adapt to that.
Mark Spence
That adaptation is key, if we do not address these needs then we will not get young people into the industry in the volume that we need. It is about recognition of competence and marking progression points so that you can show the parents of today’s young people and young people themselves the career progression potential. We need to change the mindset that construction is the area you go to if you do not get any qualifications. Improved safety is key to changing that mindset. We have made massive strides in Northern Ireland but we need to maintain enforcement and constantly encourage leadership around site safety.
Barry Neilson
I would add that we need more support around the transition points of career development. In the past, there was a sink-or-swim attitude to promotion or transition in the industry but that is rightly changing. There is a significant change from delivering a trade to a technical or managerial role but that shift does not need to be dramatic if we can provide bitesize bits of learning to enable people to make that transition.
“I think the pandemic helped reinforce to large contractors the need to support their supply chain.”
Mark Spence
How can workplace development become a focus on the whole supply chain?
Gavin McGuire
When we talk to colleagues on the supply side, they are facing the same challenges to attract talent because we are fishing from the same pool. Similarly, there is an industry-wide acknowledgement of the need to meet future ambitions, such as net zero. I think developing a strong pipeline of work is the underpinning enabler. A pipeline of projects allows companies to train and develop skilled workers accordingly. In the aftermath of the 2008 recession, this industry lost around 30,000 people and people have long memories. If we want to attract people to the industry then we need to prove that it has a solid future.
Mark Spence
A trend over the last two decades is that large contractors no longer employ skilled tradespeople directly and are instead reliant upon their supply chain to provide labour. The challenge with that is that these are often small businesses that do not have the capacity or resources to upskill or reskill their staff. I think the pandemic helped reinforce to large contractors the need to support their supply chain. In Great Britain, the Construction Leadership Council Skills Plan sets out to mandate those companies tendering for public works to directly employ almost all of their staff, but the reality is that Northern Ireland does not have a large and consistent enough pipeline for that to be successful.
Don Burns
Financial incentives for employers to bring in apprenticeships work. It was proven during Covid-19 recovery, when a rise in apprenticeships correlated with a rise in incentives. Subsequently, the volume of availability has fallen as the supports are withdrawn. We have discussed making the proposition for young people, but we also need to make it attractive to employers.
Padraig Venney
Above the construction industry, I think there needs to be ownership from government in providing that pipeline. A good starting point would be long-term budgets, which have been discussed but never materialised. A clear pipeline of projects would not only offer clarity for the public sector but also make Northern Ireland a viable investment option for the private sector. Part of creating that pipeline would be solutions to clear structural problems such as planning delays and land availability.
“There is a need to remove the current age barrier and develop a system that fast tracks qualification and significantly reduces the timeframe.”
Padraig Venney
Barry Neilson
Around 10 years ago, CITB NI ran a scheme where we directly employed apprentices, replicating a successful scheme in England. The scheme failed here in Northern Ireland, and I think the reason it failed was that it was ahead of its time and employers were not ready for it yet. I genuinely believe there may be scope for a similar scheme now that organisations are more accepting of the value of implementing social clauses. We work on a constant basis with the industry to highlight the value of bringing through apprenticeships, and now provide financial support to employers for over 900 apprentices per year. One of the challenges we face is that many smaller organisations fail to see the bigger picture and are risk-adverse to putting resources into an apprentice who may move elsewhere when qualified. The point that I raise with these people is that there is a circular element to industry improvement and that it is a mobile workforce, where the training of an individual is to the benefit of the whole industry.
What one policy lever could help enhance skills development and productivity for the industry?
Don Burns
For me, it is around financial support. If we are going to change the culture and direction of the industry then we need focused investment, which will be to the benefit of employers, learners, and educators. Young people are the future of the construction industry, but if we do not make it financially attractive to them, we will not produce the workforce needed.
Padraig Venney
We need a complete overhaul of apprenticeships. There is a need to remove the current age barrier and develop a system that fast tracks qualification and significantly reduces the timeframe. Broadening the accessibility of skilled trade will improve the productivity of the sector.
Gavin McGuire
Too many sections of the industry are too lightly regulated. Anyone can call themselves a builder regardless of competence or professionalism. The FMB is campaigning for a licensing scheme for the building industry as a whole, like the one that is in place for the gas and electrical trades. Companies would need to show a minimum level of competence to be able to trade. We believe that it would help increase quality and standards, improve professionalism, help improve health and safety compliance, and improve the image of the sector, which is key if we are to attract new talent.
Barry Neilson
I find it frustrating when I hear politicians and officials talk about priority sectors, those high-value sectors to attract inward investment, and not discuss the role of construction. The built environment is the bedrock of our economy, and the construction industry builds the world in which all other sectors operate. I would like to see a recognition of the construction industry as an enabler for those priority sectors.
Lynn Carvill
Current careers delivery, be that through government, through schools, or within the sector, is fragmented. There needs to be a greater focus on an overarching curriculum for attraction and retention in the industry, starting from an early age. In terms of policy, the introduction of mandatory social value scoring to public procurement contracts since June 2022 has landed with difficulties for both the industry and for the community and voluntary sector. Social value can be a very useful tool for the industry but I think there is a need for a review of how that policy is being implemented.
Mark Spence
How the apprenticeship levy is being handled in Northern Ireland is deeply frustrating. The contractors of this region can ill afford to pay it, and get nothing in return. We hear from local politicians that it is out of their control and is being led by the Treasury in Westminster, but the reality is the money comes back in the block grant. Our MLAs need to step up, identify that money within the block grant and allocate the finances to where they should be spent.