Construction Worker Shortages Lead To Delays

Construction Worker Shortages Lead To Delays

Construction industry experts are warning of an exodus of skilled EU workers due to Brexit will lead to critical staff shortages and massive delays on projects, damaging the sector, and resulting in fewer houses being built.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the non-British resident population fell in the year to June 2020 by 135,000, including migrants from Poland, Estonia and Slovenia, who make up 26 per cent of the UK’s construction workforce.

Construction News also reports that there were 35,000 construction vacancies in the period from March to May this year, also according to ONS, and an increase on the 29,000 from February to April, and the highest level in 20 years.

As of the end of April, around 166,000 people working in the construction industry were on furlough, according to HMRC, and the latest ONS data reported that the industry had 2.22m workers in the first quarter of 2021, 100,000 fewer than the 2.32m employed in the first quarter of 2020.

The director of property firm Clearview Developments, Jason Tema, told City AM that immediate government intervention is required to mitigate any further staff shortages.

“Whilst the departure of EU-born construction professionals might only marginally open up job opportunities for some British workers, a drop of qualified industry staff of this scale will inevitably lead to severe staff shortages,” he said.

“As a result, project completions could face major delays. It’s yet another hurdle for the UK’s construction sector to overcome at a time when the industry is already behind target to build new private market as well as affordable homes.”

Last year, the BBC’s Housing Briefing estimated that there were 1.2 million fewer homes built in the UK than what was needed, and the demand for new homes continues to increase. Calculations suggest that it could take a minimum of 15 years at the current rates of house building to close the gap, and what homes are being built are not affordable.

The Migration and Construction report, published by the Construction Industry Training Body (CITB), has previously warned that recruitment agencies consider the UK’s new points-based immigration system is going to lead to a 40 per cent decrease in the number of non-UK skilled construction workers coming into the country.

At the same time, the report forecasted a decrease in the number of ‘low skilled’ construction workers working in the UK of 58 per cent.

Jason Tema added that the government should be reconsidering the newly proposed visa process to allow skilled construction workers a concession, given the needs and the characteristics of the sector.

“For example, staff are self-employed, paid under CIS and given the nature of project-based positions, the need for spoken and written English does not need to be on par with sectors that are delivering a professional service or are people-facing,” he continued.

“For years, thousands of temporary EU workers have shaped construction sites with the provision of their labour and the government needs to recognise and give support to that for the sector to continue to flourish.”

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