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Skills Shortage: A Housebuilder’s Biggest Headache

Small housebuilders say that they are being hampered by skills shortages and industry leaders warn that Brexit could make the problem worse.

 

The construction industry has had a difficult year. Carillion’s collapse in January, combined with the cold weather in March has significantly dampened spirits. The Brexit referendum in 2016 prompted the departure of large numbers of skilled EU workers, leaving the construction and manufacturing industries struggling to make up numbers. While employment has remained steady and unemployment has stayed at a 43-year low, skilled workers have been in short supply. Brexit has injured the skilled workforce, with further aggravation expected while the future UK-EU relationship remains uncertain.

According to a new report from the Federation of Master Builders, the skills shortage has become the housebuilder’s major vexation. In a recent survey by the trade association, 44 per cent of housebuilders cited the shortage of skilled workers as a “major barrier” to their sector’s success.

All roads lead back to Brexit, with the referendum instigating a lot of the employment issues within the construction industry. Many immigrant workers are unclear how they will fit within the post-Brexit landscape. With the exact circumstances of Britain’s exit still unclear, there is a great amount of anxiety and uncertainty between employee and employer.

 

Brian Berry, the body’s chief executive, said: “Given that the UK will leave the EU in less than six months, housebuilders are understandably concerned that skills shortages could worsen and choke housing delivery.

The construction industry has been the most reliant on EU workers, with construction and housebuilding skills common in countries within the European Union. While these experts have been much admired by UK employers, a different approach may have to be undertaken. While EU workers were self-reliant, employers may have to become willing to train employees themselves. Transform the unskilled members of their workforce into the skilled workers they have been missing.

At the Credit Protection Association, we have witnessed firsthand the negative implications of Brexit. We have freed up cash flow where necessary and sidestepped insolvency when low demand has brought down profits.

The construction industry has been hit particularly hard by Brexit, and the skills shortage is a housebuilder’s biggest headache. The debt recovery service at CPA will relieve some of this strain,  freeing up cash flow and allowing our Members to invest in new training schemes for their business and prepare for Brexit their own way.

 

 

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