So what is to become of the next generation of construction staff? It is one of the biggest conundrums facing the UK's construction industry - but one which perhaps few have considered in the current climate of turmoil.
This week, the Construction Skills Network (CSN) has cut a swathe through its new staff forecasts. Gone is its confident prediction that the industry will need 88,000 new recruits for the next four years, replaced with a new figure of only 42,000.
It is a worrying sign that even the ever-optimistic CSN predicts such a cut in numbers. And with many of ConstructionSkills' apprentices struggling to find employer placements or being made redundant, it has been forced to start a 'clearing house' to help them.
Making skilled staff redundant, stopping training and ceasing to take on apprentices are the standard ways of dealing with a downturn. It is what happens each and every time. People go off to join other industries, apprentices decide to follow a different career, and so there is a ready-made skills shortage when the upturn comes.
There are no easy answers, but perhaps the industry should be better at talking about where things are going well. There is still plenty of work, numerous successful framework agreements, the Olympics and a lot of public sector work. Talking-up the industry will be the only way to ensure we don't end up with another lost generation in the construction industry.
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