John Daly: Construction industry calls out for more workers
In many cities, the construction cacophony of jackhammers, excavators, and pile-drivers offers a background symphony, and even a short stroll around Dublin or Cork provides mesmerising views of cranes and towers dominating the skyline.
Construction activity has grown roughly 10% per annum since 2013 when the economic recovery began to get underway and 1,000 people have entered the construction industry per month since then. How different it all was a decade ago when silence and inactivity were the bywords of a shattered economy.
Inevitably, though, construction activity does present its problems. The dilemma is about the lack of trained workers available personnel. With the economy approaching full employment, the task of filling vacancies in the dozens of major building projects across the country is proving a vexatious headache.
Such is the skills shortage that construction companies have been forced to cast their employment net overseas in search of quantity surveyors, civil engineers, and project managers, with talent from as far afield as Brazil and South Africa responding to work opportunities.
While there has been a focus in recent years on bringing Irish construction talent back from overseas, including many who were forced to emigrate during the slump, it is not enough to successfully plug the growing gaps.
To maintain the level of growth required by the vast array of major projects across the country, companies increasingly need to access the global talent pool.
However, many companies are put off by the assumption that the bureaucracy of employing non-EU residents will involve a blizzard of paperwork.
According to Azon Recruitment, construction professionals from outside of Ireland make up less than 10% of all workers in the industry, with over 70% of building companies saying they are not actively looking to hire professionals from abroad to fill their vacancies.
In addition, 90% of those who responded to the Azon survey were unaware of government initiatives to help companies to source and relocate non-EU workers. One example is the 2015 Trusted Partner Initiative, aimed at streamlining the application process and offering a fast turnaround of applications, with no fees and reduced paperwork.
It is buttressed by the Critical Skills Employment Permits, an initiative designed to attract highly skilled people into the labour market to take up permanent residence in the State.
Another product of the skills shortages in construction is the increase in salaries. Azon estimates construction wages rose by around 4.5% last year, before other perks, such as enhanced car allowances, pensions, and health benefits.
In addition, construction is getting to grips with a variety of roles that were unknown a decade ago. The changing face of the sector is generating new types of job, driven by technology.
The industry is also grappling with a gender equality crisis, with women accounting for only 8% of Irish construction workers.
Given that up to 112,000 additional workers will be needed to deliver on the planned construction activity over the next decade, the industry is limiting its growth potential if it only recruits from 50% of the population.
“From an efficiency perspective, female participation in business decision making has been proven to improve business performance,” says Jean Winters, who is director of industrial relations at the Construction Industry Federation.
“We, as an industry, cannot continue to allow such low levels of female participation. Other sectors have taken steps with some success and we need to also,” she says.
The construction industry continues to play a game of catch-up following almost a decade of under-investment.
Meeting the housing needs of a country whose population is set to substantially increase in the near future will underpin much of the next decade’s output. The construction industry will be under pressure to deliver.
the goods.
