A new independent report commissioned by the Scottish government has made 40 recommendations for tackling the construction sector’s skills shortage.
The New Housing and Future Construction Skills Report examined many themes related to attracting people to the industry, training and upskilling with input from housebuilders, colleges and universities, the public sector, and industry, training and skills organisations. This Housing and Construction Skills Short-Life Working Group (SLWG), chaired by Professor Sean Smith from Napier University, was established by the government in 2018.
The group split its recommendations into action for the short-term (three years), medium-term (four to nine years) and long-term (ten years).
“The new build housing sector is on a journey and over the next 10-20 years will be transformative in terms of the types of technologies and homes it will build,” said Professor Smith. “The pace of technology in other sectors has been faster but we are now in a transitioning period for housebuilding and wider construction sectors. Given the range of potential changes in future new home power supplies, smart technologies, energy saving devices, EV charging and self-powered homes the coming period presents challenges but also exciting opportunities for new skill sets, workforce diversity, new entrants and their careers.
“Investment in our colleges to update and integrate new training facilities for the technologies ahead is required. This is an opportunity to adapt and modernise and to reach out to attract young people to have a future career in the housebuilding sector.”
Among the many recommendations are the provision of additional support to assist training and supply of site managers, and upskilling of current site managers; the establishment of a construction skills and professions council for Scotland to bring all industry trade bodies and professional organisations together; greater clarity for industry on outcomes of their contributions to the apprenticeship levy; supporting the development of growing the supply of future offsite skills, such as an offsite training academy; and improving gender balance, inclusive growth and diversity of workforce the sector by using ambassadors and role models to demonstrate the various careers and opportunities.
Professor Smith added: “To deliver the future new homes on the scale required will require all stakeholders to engage, to promote a sector which is attractive to future new entrants, underpinned by a fairer society approach, to be ready for the new technologies and to adapt to the opportunities ahead.”
Read the report in full here<
