Q: How can we collaborate to close the skills gap?
A: London needs more homes. That’s certain. It’s at the top of the news agenda, bemoaned at party conferences, and is the topic of choice for point-scoring politicians. And though it’s time for positive change across the industry, addressing the construction skills shortage is fundamental to addressing the housing deficit.
Construction is crippled by the greatest skills shortage of a generation. One in five jobs remains vacant, existing employees are retiring earlier, and data from the CITB shows that school leavers regard working in construction as inferior, all putting us firmly in the middle of a skills crisis.
Young people are the future of our industry, but approaches to tackling the skills shortage so far have been much like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Now is the time for our industry to take responsibility and collaborate to find solutions. Rather than relying on the government and its £1bn investment in the Construction Skills Fund, or local authorities and their outreach through further education colleges, we need to be the change we want to see if we are to recruit our construction talent of the future.
Time to upskill
We need to upskill ourselves so that we are able to train our employees, but moreover, if we stand any chance of retaining them, we must be prepared to support them as they develop their skills, and afford opportunities to progress to successful careers in the industry. Ultimately, success will be measured through closing the skills gap but that’s not just about creating more apprenticeships.
But we need to start before our future talent has even left school.
Some young people have an old-fashioned view of life in the construction industry and I believe it is our job to tackle this perception. We must engage with children of primary school age, before they weigh up their career options, and we must appeal to their parents, too. We need to showcase from the outset what a job in construction can offer – from training to promotion and responsibility – and, let’s face it, with the demand for homes, we can feasibly promise a job for life. And we need to instil a sense of pride in site work.
But this challenge isn’t for us to tackle alone. We must ignite a new wave of joint ventures across the industry – creating lasting partnerships that overhaul negative misconceptions of life on site, both in practical and managerial roles. Let’s not forget that as much as we need brickies and sparkies, so too do we need engineers and architects, and we shouldn’t be above bringing in workers from industries that offer limited career progression.
This shouldn’t be an upheaval or another gauntlet to navigate – it’s very simple and, moreover, it’s rewarding for everyone involved.
Partnerships
Partnerships are critical to the success of every business – and we speak from experience. Ranging from our joint ventures with the likes of FABRICA by A2Dominion to L&Q, to TfL and the mayor of London, there is strength in tackling the skills shortage together.
It’s critical to bring the local communities in which we operate on our journey with us, and there is scope to bring local authorities on board, too, such as with our Futures Foundry from Mount Anvil in Whitechapel or National Skills Academy in Construction at Keybridge in Vauxhall. A community-orientated skills hub created in partnership with Tower Hamlets, Futures Foundry educates local children and school leavers on working in construction, offering site tours and skills days.
But it isn’t just bricks and mortar training – it also embraces the local community. Offering English language lessons and CV writing, it provides a step towards greater skills equality, allowing the local community to make positive changes in their lives while developing skills for their futures.
After all, it’s only when we achieve greater skills equality – both in construction industry and overall – that London and the UK can fulfil its potential. We say it time and time again, London is a world-class city. But it’s up to us to keep it that way.
Killian Hurley is chief executive of Mount Anvil
