Construction

Employment in the sector has grown significantly over the last two decades, particularly during the 1980’s. However, the future outlook is more uncertain, with no clear consensus emerging. Employment projections from Working Futures point to a significant net decline in regional employment prospects. This contrasts with a much more positive outlook projected by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB);

The sector is characterised by a somewhat older workforce profile than the average for all sector in the Region highlighting the need to improve the image of the sector and attract more young entrants. By comparison with most other sectors, Black and Minority Ethnic employees and women are particularly under-represented in the sector, underlining the importance for employers of tackling diversity issues;

The importance of implementing effective measures to attract new entrants into the sector is further underlined by the high level of reported recruitment difficulties – 55% of all construction employers in the Region report hard to fill vacancies, compared with an average for all sectors of about 42%;

It is estimated that almost three in ten employees in the Regional construction sector have no qualifications, underlining the challenges the sector faces in terms of skills development.