CITB: training culture at risk

The continued extensive use of migrant labour on UK sites “could present a significant barrier to promoting a training culture”, according to the Construction Industry Training Board.

The CITB says research indicates that the key reason for pursuing the “migrant solution” is their readiness for work. But it is an option that needs to be properly managed if it is not to inhibit training.

As far as the domestic workload is concerned, the training board concludes that the good times are here to stay.

Its latest draft annual report states: “The industry appears to face relatively strong demand over the next five to ten years, with prospects underpinned by government aspirations for health, education, housing, transport and other infrastructure, culminating in many flagship projects and structures associated with the Olympics.

“This is expected to translate into sustained growth, albeit with variations across sub-directors – substantial increases in output for public housing, particularly within the Thames Gateway, and public work balanced by less activity in infrastructure and commercial work.”

To meet that demand, the CITB says the industry needs to recruit and train 88,000 new entrants a year for the next five years. That includes 21,000 in the four main trades, 10,500 in managerial, and 8,000 in technical and professional roles.

Aside from migrant labour, a number of other factors are identified which may hamper skills availability and the training programme. They include:

■ An ageing workforce.

■ High levels of self-employment.

■ Under-representation of women and ethnic minorities in the workforce.

■ An imbalance between government spending on academic and vocational qualifications.

The age profile of the workforce is said to have undergone “significant change” over the past 10 years for both manuals and non-manuals.

Across the industry, the average age is in the 30-39 range. There has been a sharp decline in younger workers and a matching rise in those aged 45 and over. This raises major issues in terms of the loss of skills due to retirement at one end, as well as recruitment at the other.

Despite Inland Revenue initiatives, the CITB annual report concludes that “the rise in self-employment shows little sign of abating”. Indeed, recent research “shows that employers generally thought that self-employment would continue to rise – so there is a clear challenge for CITB to attract and engage more micro- employers in training”.