1st Quarter 2001 - Labour Market
With clear positive balances of firms reporting rising trends - both actual and anticipated - in both workload and employment, it is to be expected that they would also indicate some further tightening of construction labour markets. In the event, however, the changes in overall results are relatively small.
Table 9 does not show what overall percentage reports difficulty in obtaining skilled construction labour, to work either as direct employees or as sub-contractors, but it may be noted that it has risen to 71% this time, compared with 64% in the fourth quarter of 2000, and 65% in the third. As shown in the Table, 52% say they are experiencing difficulty recruiting direct employees, an increase of four percentage points, whilst 48% indicate difficulty obtaining the services of skilled men to work as sub-contractors, which is three points more than last time.
The overall results for the UK are the same as for England and Wales, a low level of concern for 'skill shortages' among the comparatively few respondents from Northern Ireland offsetting the Scottish result, which includes marginally the highest figure of any region for the proportion reporting difficulty with the recruitment of skilled operatives as direct employees.
|
|
|
Where results for individual skills are concerned, all the 'bottom-line' figures in Table 9 are higher than last time, except that for employment of carpenters and joiners as sub-contractors, which slips from 21% to 16%. However, the figure for the proportion of firms having difficulty recruiting carpenters and joiners as direct employees remains the highest for any trade, up six points at 38%.
It is still the case that, over the country as a whole, there are no trades other than those the results for which are shown in Table 9 for which the proportion of survey respondents indicating difficulty is 10% or more, for either directly employed or sub-contracted labour. It should be noted, however, that figures of more than 10% have been recorded for some trades in rather more regions than before, including ones as high as 19% and 18% respectively for obtaining painters to work as sub-contractors in London and in the South West of England, and 18% for electricians to work as sub-contractors in the South East. Almost all these figures are beaten, however, by those of 19% and 23% of respondents in Wales saying they are having difficulty finding roofers to work either as direct employees or as sub-contractors.
Where electricians are concerned, there are also more than 10% of firms saying they are finding it difficult to find people to work as sub-contractors in both the East and West Midlands, and in the South West. Roofers show up not only in Wales, but also as a trade difficult to recruit for more than 10% of firms in London, the South East, and the North West.
Further Information
For further information, please contact:
Federation of Master Builders
Gordon Fisher House
14-15 Great James Street
Holborn
London
WC1N 3DP
Tel: 020 7242 7583
Fax: 020 7404 0296
First posted: 23 April 2001. Last modified: 24 April 2001.
|
|
