Future labour recruitment strategies for the British construction industry

Construction is a labour-intensive industry, which places heavy reliance upon the skills of its workforce. The future supply of construction skills depends on the recruitment of young entrants together with some upgrading of semi-skilled operatives to skilled jobs. The declining number of young people available to enter employment, however, has considerable implications for the construction industry, particularly in the search for eligible recruits to train for future skill requirements. Against this background, this paper highlights how construction employers will need to adopt alternative training and recruitment strategies if they to avoid future skills shortages. These strategies will need to be tailored for a particular region, taking account of the demand for labour, brought about by growth in construction output and the availability of alternative sources of labour, including the long-tern unemployed, women and ethnic minorities.