If property can seem a tough sell as a career choice to the next generation, what hope does a sub-sector like industrial have?
A very good one, it seems.
No longer a denizen of the shadows, industrial property has credentials that have shone in recent years. Highly invest-able, an extension of one of the most dynamic parts of UK plc and willing and able to embrace the tech revolution, it is a sector making the most of its time in the spotlight.
From fuelling online retail to being a test bed for automation, it is perhaps the fastest-changing part of real estate. But how can it draw the talent it needs if it is to continue to thrive? And could the very forces it is embracing be its undoing?
Property, residential, construction and services group Kier understands the challenges better than most when it comes to ensuring it has the workforce it needs.
“We had 75% of parents saying they wouldn’t recommend it to their children as a profession. Actually, there’s a wealth of opportunity. There is highly skilled, highly paid labour for everyone.”
“At the moment the industry needs about 400,000 people per annum,” says Phillippa Prongué, managing director for the South at Kier Property.
The business has sought to get on the front foot by launching a campaign called Shaping Your World. A key part of this campaign involves 200 Kier Ambassadors, who will be engaging 10,000 school pupils over the next 12 months, “sharing their pride and passion about working in the built environment”.
The campaign also seeks to challenge the notion that this sector is and will continue to be male dominated, non-academic and low paying.
“We had 75% of parents saying they wouldn’t recommend it to their children as a profession,” says Prongué. “Actually, there’s a wealth of opportunity. There is highly skilled, highly paid labour for everyone.”
Mike Green, head of UK industrial and logistics at Aviva Investors, says the sector has changed but needs to communicate those changes more effectively if it is to be successful in drawing talent.
“Things have evolved enormously in the past five to 10 years in particular and there’s a lot that we could be shouting about and making more of,” he says.
But perhaps the key to the sector’s success lies in initiatives elsewhere. The government is putting more emphasis on science, technology and maths.
Warehouse automation is accelerating. And consumer demand for online shopping appears insatiable as delivery is geared to satisfying the customer, not the supplier. Industrial, sheds, logistics, or even advanced logistics – however you want to brand the sector – is at the heart of this cultural revolution.
Amy Gilham, head of logistics and director of economics at Turley, sees a particular opportunity in the government putting more emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.
More and more positions are going to sound just like an advert for working at Google.”
“Many career services and schools aren’t open to promoting construction and logistics but actually they may well be more willing to help people to get into something that’s more technology related or more engineering related. In the world in which I work, that’s logistics.
“If, for example, Aviva or John Lewis is advertising for a position, it might not necessarily say that this is a logistics role but intrinsically within that post it might be all around e-fulfilment. More and more positions are going to sound just like an advert for working at Google.
“I think if we are talking about a higher-skilled intake, job ads might almost be around the individual job role and the credentials of the company rather than being about a company that mostly does warehouses.”
Nevertheless Prongué acknowledges that a career in the sector is not yet an easy sell – particularly to school-aged children. “I don’t think anyone particularly starts out wanting to do it but I do think it’s incumbent upon all of us to go back to schools to tell them about what we do.”
At Kier that means a shift from apprenticeships to training. “Do we actually need all our employees to be RICS qualified?” she asks. “We’re looking at ways to create roles for people to move up through the business.”
This article is based on a panel discussion at EG’s most recent Industrial summit
Diversity needed for an evolving sector
Only around 10% of employees in management positions in the transportation and logistics industry are female, putting diversity and inclusion high on the agenda.
At Kier Property, the proportion is slightly below that average.
“It’s something we’re looking at very hard to see how we can bring women in and bring everybody in,” says Phillippa Prongué, managing director for the South at Kier Property. “We’re looking at improving recruitment, promotion and retention by bringing in flexible working and trying to create a more family-friendly, employee-friendly place of work.”
But it’s not a battle that will be won overnight. “There’s a big PR job that needs to be done by all of us, by people who are occupying these buildings, people who operate them and people who advise on them,” says Mike Green, head of UK industrial and logistics at Aviva Investors.
Bring all these elements together and Prongué believes change will come, to the benefit of recruitment, workplace diversity and the sector’s image.
Get it right and its reputation will be enhanced. Get it wrong and technology could replace much of what it does.
“The sector’s image hasn’t changed in the 20 years I’ve been working,” she says.
“But I don’t think it will change for my age group. At university there were only four females on my course and 60 blokes. One of the girls was my sister and she’s no longer working in the industry.
“But it has to change in order to get more people into this sector. The workforce isn’t going to consist of males alone. I think it will be a challenge for us. We’ll always be an island, so space is going to be at a premium.
“We have to change our message consistently and move on with the times and technology and get the industry to a place where it is able to capitalise.”
■ See also: SEGRO head calls for an end to ‘white, male-dominated property industry’
To send feedback, e-mail damian.wild@egi.co.uk or tweet @DamianWild or @estatesgazette
