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Article information:
To cite this document:
Geoffrey Briscoe, (1990),"Skill Shortages in the Construction Sector", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 11 Iss 2 pp. 23
- 28
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01437729010135791
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Skill
Shortages
in the
Construction
Sector
Geoffrey Briscoe
The Evidence
In the decade after 1973 overall construction output
declined by a quarter and this produced associated
reductions in the size of the industry's workforce and,
in particular, in the number of construction trainees.
During the late 1970s and the early 1980s the concern was
with large-scale unemployment amongst construction
operatives and there were very few mentions of skill
shortages. Indeed, the Building Economic Development
Committee's (EDC) Skilled Manpower Steering Group,
reporting in 1984, found that generalised shortages of
operative skills were unlikely to be a problem in the near
future [1]. Other commentators on construction manpower
shared this view. By late 1986, although output in the
industry had only grown relatively slowly in the intervening
years, widespread concern was being expressed over
construction skill shortages.
Early in 1987 the building press ran a number of articles
on skill shortages; the magazine Building wrote of the
missing thousands of tradesmen[2]. The Minister for
Housing advised the Construction Industry Training Board
(CITB) urgently to introduce extra trainees into the
Carpenters
Plasterers
38
35
77
24
25
64
77
84
88
84
56
51
66
85
75
71
72
66
1
47
59
80
Percentage of Cases
75
66
22
20
19
12
12
Region
London
(Rest of) South-East
South-West
East Midlands
East Anglia
West Midlands
North-West
North
Yorkshire
Wales
Scotland
Great Britain
All
work
1981
New
work
Commercial
work
All
work
1986
New
work
Commercial
work
16.0
20.9
7.4
6.5
4.3
7.5
.9.7
5.0
8.2
4.9
9.6
15.9
20.8
7.2
6.5
4.4
6.9
9.4
5.5
7.8
5.5
10.1
35.6
19.5
7.3
3.6
2.8
5.4
6.7
3.1
5.5
3.1
7.4
15.8
23.7
8.4
6.1
4.3
8.3
9.1
4.7
7.3
3.4
8.9
16.8
25.0
8.0
5.8
4.4
7.8
8.7
5.2
6.3
3.2
8.8
33.1
24.1
6.0
4.7
2.6
6.2
6.3
5.4
4.1
2.1
5.4
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
1981
1986
14.6
17.3
22.6
11.9
11.8
11.6
10.2
6.0
13.4
17.9
13.3
14.8
19.0
15.6
3.1
15.9
15.7
11.5
18.6
20.0
15.2
Total
100%
100%
100%
Type of Work
This changing pattern of demand carries with it strong implications for the labour skill requirements. The observed shift
away from new housing has seemingly reduced the demand
for those traditional skills, such as bricklaying, and painting
and decorating, which are strongly associated with this type
of work. However, where training levels have fallen and
demand has then increased, as has happened in the SouthEastern region in recent years, skill shortfalls have inevitably
occurred. Equally, where the lower level of public sector
non-housing work has reduced demand for skills, such as
plant operators and steel-fixers, it is hardly surprising that
when private sector initiatives, such as London Docklands
and the Channel Tunnel, reactivate demand for the same
skills, shortages are revealed. Many of the older operatives
have left the industry and few younger workers have been
trained in these skills.
In other respects, changing demand has introduced
requirements for new labour skills which are not readily
Constuction Sector
Year
All CITB
Trainees
(000)
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
62.8
65.1
65.3
69.0
60.7
55.0
49.8
48.4
48.5
47.8
8.0
7.0
6.8
6.3
5.3
6.2
6.1
6.3
6.4
6.5
Sources: Columns (1) and (3) are based on CITB returns. Column (2) is
taken from Incomes Data Services, Study 396 (1987).
Geoffrey Briscoe is attached to the Department of Civil Engineering and Building, Coventry Polytechnic, UK.
1. Michael C. P. Sing, D. J. Edwards, Henry J. X. Liu, P. E. D. Love. 2015. Forecasting Private-Sector Construction Works:
VAR Model Using Economic Indicators. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 141, 04015037. [CrossRef]
2. Geoff Briscoe, Andrew Dainty, Sarah Millett. 2000. The impact of the tax system on selfemployment in the British
construction industry. International Journal of Manpower 21:8, 596-614. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
3. DG Proverbs, GD Holt, PO Olomolaiye. 1999. The management of labour on high rise construction projects: an international
investigation. International Journal of Project Management 17, 195-204. [CrossRef]