Over 1,000 construction apprentices made redundant

The number of construction apprentices being made redundant during the economic downturn now stands at well over 1,000.

The total has nearly trebled over the past two months with only one in three finding a fresh site placement. And the industry’s training leaders are forecasting still more apprentice redundancies to come.

Latest figures from the ConstructionSkills training board show 1,200 redundant registered apprentices seeking help to find new placements. Of these, some 350 have been relocated.

That compares with figures reported last November of 445 ConstructionSkills apprentices being made redundant during the year with just over 100 them being placed with new employers.

Nigel Donohue, ConstructionSkills apprenticeships programmes manager, said: "As the Sector Skills Council, ConstructionSkills has set up a matching service in partnership with the Department of Skills to help affected apprentices find new placements. This service is already assisting 1,200 young people unable to complete their apprenticeship - a figure only likely to rise yet further - and has already relocated 350 of that number."

A spokesman for Ucatt said: "A far higher degree of assistance needs to be given to finding new positions for these workers who have been laid off through no fault of their own. They are skilled workers of tomorrow who will help the industry emerge from its current downturn."

Union general secretary Alan Ritchie said: "The industry needs to realise that the Government is serious about providing opportunities for full time craft based apprentices. All companies winning public sector construction projects will be required in future to train apprentices. If we are to avoid skill shortages and produce high quality work, the training of apprentices must become the norm, not the exception, in our industry."

Ritchie is a member of a special apprenticeship task force established by Skills Minister John Denham. The chairman of the group is James Wates and it is looking at new ways of generating additional placements for both new and existing apprentices. These include expanding the number of group training schemes.

A regional analysis of apprentice redundancies at November shows the North East of England as the hardest hit area, followed by the Midlands and the South West.