The UK construction industry: a review of black country skills demand

The economic impact of the early 1990s recession on UK's constructors (employers) is still lingering, this is because, the industry has not recovered fully from its' loss of invaluable manpower during recession. Workforce is currently overstressed, there is high claimant rate–unemployment driven, skills gap amid overall peaking of construction output. This sub-regional trend is broadly reflected at both regional and national levels. This paper is aimed
at identifying the demand for construction skills, education and training in the Black Country; to identify the future and current needs of employers and explore innovative ways of addressing the issues. The views of a representative sample of agencies and companies was surveyed; the survey tool - a semi structured questionnaire was administered via face-to-face interviews. The completed questionnaires were coded and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Workforce is aging, expected dominance of SMEs is revealed; there is little or no training for Curtain Walling, Carpet, Hard and Soft Flooring including Tiles, Prefabrication and Cladding. 19 % of contractors are concerned that they wouldn't be able to achieve business aims because of skills shortage; sub-regional skills shortage is real and will hamper regional and national competitiveness if not seriously addressed now.