The Labour Market - 3rd Quarter 2000 Both overall and in detail, the third quarter survey results for the state of the labour market as experienced by small and medium-sized building firms are relatively little different from those obtained at the end of the second quarter. The overall result for the weighted percentage of replies indicating difficulty in obtaining skilled labour, to work either as direct employees or sub-contractors, which is not shown in Table 9, is 65%, which is one point less than last time, and five points less than in the first quarter. However, as the Table does show, the proportion finding it difficult to recruit direct employees is a little lower than last time, whereas that experiencing problems hiring sub-contractors is up from 40% to 50%. A significant part of the latter increase is in respect of plasterers, who appear relatively hardest to find in the Midlands, both East and West. The East Midlands also has the highest percentage of replies indicating difficulty in hiring plumbers and heating & ventilation engineers to work as sub-contractors. As a result, this region has the highest overall percentage for difficulty in obtaining trades on that basis.
Table 9 - % Reporting Difficulty in Obtaining Skilled Labour, Last Quarter   All trades Bricklayers Carpenters Joiners Plasterers Plumbers H&V Engineers   Direct Sub Direct Sub Direct Sub Direct Sub Direct Sub Northern 44 40 8 4 12 6 23 25 19 2 Yorkshire & Humberside 54 28 42 7 51 5 13 2 6 27 East Midlands 47 71 35 34 42 46 16 51 16 57 East Anglia 76 65 55 58 40 47 15 20 29 36 London 43 50 19 24 29 22 8 28 11 30 South East 47 59 29 31 24 28 5 14 14 17 South West 54 48 27 21 40 24 15 22 8 8 West Midlands 42 49 26 2 22 11 9 30 0 19 North West 42 29 9 18 31 13 9 16 13 18 Wales 33 44 22 33 11 17 22 22 0 6 National 47 (51) 50 (40) 28 (27) 21 (18) 31 (35) 21 (20) 12 (13) 23 (14) 11 (10) 22 (16)
Second highest in this category, and also with the highest proportion indicating difficulty recruiting direct employees, are the survey respondents working mainly in East Anglia. These also show up as having relatively the greatest difficulty obtaining the services of bricklayers. At the other extreme, firms in the North indicate less concern with obtaining bricklayers than with any other trade, and also have the least problem securing the services of carpenters & joiners. Taking a broader view, it is only in two regions that the overall proportion indicating difficulty in recruiting direct employees is significantly different from the national figure of 47%, being very much higher in East Anglia and clearly low in Wales. By comparison, there is much more inter-regional variation is results for the availability of trades to work in the capacity of sub-contractors. Here there is a quite pronounced 'North-South divide', with the North, Yorkshire & Humberside showing up as the three regions with figures most clearly below the national 50%. First posted: 25 October 2000. Last modified: 25 October 2000.