Building a career in construction

Building a career in construction is indeed challenging especially if you are in the lower rung of the construction labour chain. Entrants into the construction workforce seldom progress beyond the level of clerks of works or at best, site supervisors. To make matter worst, construction business is cyclical. There are ups and downs. During good times many new entrants are absorbed into the industry to fill the numerous vacancies. Never mind if you do not have the experience. Odd jobs requiring little or no skill are abound. Experience is seldom needed when times are good. Come bad times, projects are scarce and companies cannot sustain the extra workforce. Workers are allowed to leave and find employment in some other places. The more fortunate ones take their experience with them to similar jobs elsewhere, some even outside the country. Others have to contend with doing anything just to stem the tide. This then becomes the standard operating procedure in this industry.

Due to its cyclical nature, contractors are only prepared to engage a small number of core personnel to ensure survival during lean times. Bigger portions of the works are farmed out to the sub-contractors, the majority of whom are small scale operators

themselves. Some sub-contractors also retain only the essential staff. Additional work that need to be done will be outsourced to the second level sub-contractors. This multilayered sub-contracting practice is another standard operating procedure for this industry.

Within this operating structure, with its inherent risks and uncertainties, it is very difficult to create meaningful career path for anyone along the construction labour chain, unless one is ready to venture out on his own and chart his own destiny. Unfortunately in this business one seldom goes far unless he carries the expert or specialist trademark with him. The mediocre and the unskilled lot will continue to tag along behind the specialist until the day he has mustered enough skill and courage to venture out on his own. The emergence of these one, two men outfit providing limited services to the industry is another standard operating procedure for this industry.

It now becomes apparent that the construction of projects especially the typical building projects are done by multitude of multi-layered sub-contractors who employ one or two

permanent staff and engage gangs of temporary workers who will move on to some other sub-contractors in some other projects elsewhere. Given this kind of structure, what hope do we have to build a sustainable career path for the fresh entrants into the industry?

Well, nothing is lost yet.

For starters we need to revamp the industry structure. We need to find that magic formula to equate the number of contractors to the amount of construction that need to be done. There are currently already too many contractors chasing too few jobs. Left unchecked, some of these contractors will fall on the wayside. Others will die a natural death. Still others will have to brave the pasar malam crowds and try their lucks there. Gruesome thought but true enough.

Assuming that we found the formula and managed to set the right quantum, we will still need to sustain the remaining contractors by ensuring steady flow of projects. This will minimise the cyclical effects. At the same time, the contractors will need to pursue a growth model, putting in place more permanent structure and developing and nurturing formidable workforce to rise to the new challenges. And they will need to continuously upgrade their own competencies as well

Past the chaotic phase, the industry should have arrived at some measure of equilibrium. Constructions companies are well run, high performance, medium sized with respectable income. They consistently offer quality products and services that meet the needs of the customers. Statistics and information are aplenty. Five years down the line the country already knows for instance, how many site supervisors will be required in the state of Johor. Planning for human resource development then becomes less painful, in fact it could even be a rewarding experience. Putting the right people in the right place doing the right job should not be an issue in a stabilised environment. During that time, with that kind of growing

structure, we have all the hope of

building a sustainable career path for aspiring entrants into the industry.

Mohd Nawi Dul CIDB Malaysia