The overall number of people employed in wood trades and interior fit out is set to rise slightly from 262,020 in 2013 to 262,580 in 2017, bucking the trend as the wider construction industry faces one of its most difficult periods since the Second World War.
The Construction Skills Network report – the industry’s annual skills forecast prepared by CITB-ConstructionSkills with input from employers across the UK, paints a stark picture of 2012. With sixty thousand jobs lost, and a 9% fall in output, 2012 saw UK construction tip back deep into recession, as well as:
• 20% downturn in public sector housing and non-housing construction;
• 5% downturn in private housing construction;
• 10% per cent downturn in commercial sector construction and;
• 15% downturn in infrastructure construction.
And the prospects for the next 5 years (2013 – 17) are equally discouraging. Nearly every sector of the industry will continue to struggle with only the private housing, repair and maintenance and industrial sectors predicted to achieve anything like consistent growth. As a whole, the industry will only grow at an average of 0.8% annually, and will not match its 2007 peak in output until 2022.
This weakness in performance is reflected in a predicted fall in construction employment every year from 2013-16, reaching a low of 2.36m – the lowest employment level in the industry since 2000
Recruitment to the industry is predicted to run at an average of 29,050 a year from now until 2017 – largely to fill vacancies arising from those leaving the sector. Within the wood trades and interior fit out sector, there will be an annual recruitment requirement of 3,980 people – the largest of any trade.
Dave Campbell, the BWF's WITForum Manager, said: "depite the gloomy figures for the sector as a whole, it is clear that the joinery and wodoworking industry cannot be complacent and must seize the opportiunity to grow. These figures show we need more people coming into our trade to meet demand, and we are helping to promote this with our latest social media campaign to get more people interested in joining up with the joiners!"
Judy Lowe, Deputy Chairman of CITB-ConstructionSkills, said: “Construction found itself at the heart of a ‘perfect storm’ in 2012 – hit hard by a combination of public sector spending cuts and a lack of investment in the private sector. Client and consumer confidence are low and are keeping growth levels down.
“Worryingly, the outlook doesn’t look much better – by 2017, construction output will still be 12% down on its 2007 peak, and employment 17% down on its peak in 2008. Indeed, we don’t anticipate the industry returning to its former levels until at least 2022 – meaning this will be one of the most difficult periods for construction on record.
“Construction is a vital engine of UK growth. While construction struggles for its survival, it’s impossible to see how the UK economy can generate significant growth.”
“What’s bad for construction is bad for the economy, so doing nothing is not an option. There is too much at stake. Construction remains the only industry that can kick start the economy in the short, medium and long term. We know that, for every £1 invested in construction, £2.84 is generated for the wider economy. There are currently over 150,000 unemployed construction workers. This costs the economy £2.1bn a year in unemployment benefit and lost tax revenue. The actions we are proposing are straightforward, easy to implement and will deliver the results that re-establish construction as an essential element of economic growth.”
Tackling the growth challenge head-on, over 1,400 construction bodies, invludiong the BWF and employers have joined forces in the CITB-ConstructionSkills inspired Construction4Growth campaign. Tomorrow, a deputation from the campaign will meet Ministers at an 11 Downing Street Summit, where a 10 point plan for working with Government to secure growth and support the industry will be discussed.
The plan examines:
• ways to get projects delivered as part of the Government’s pledged capital investment in construction;
• investment in shovel-ready repair and maintenance projects to get unemployed construction workers back on site and;
• a mandatory requirement for teachers to undertake taster courses to understand the value of a vocational career.
