Writing in the June edition of PBM, editor Paul Davies discusses the issue of recruitment into the construction and building materials industry, highlighting a new ‘sector awareness’ initiative being launched by the BMF…
Despite the current contraction of activity in the sector, it is a universal truth that construction continues to face a ‘recruitment challenge’, fuelled in significant part by an older demographic leaving the industry with insufficient numbers of new and, especially, younger entrants taking their place.
The latest industry forecast from the Construction Industry Training Board delves into the issue, setting out the current challenges and proposing solutions to tackle them. And while the notion of building a career requiring often physically demanding work in sometimes unpleasant conditions on site can be off-putting for many, at least even the most cossetted of our (unfairly?) maligned ‘snowflake generation’ already grasp what being a builder, carpenter or plumber might entail.
As we have discussed many times before, the merchant sector also faces its own recruitment challenge. Yet compounding the issue on this side of the trade counter, can we be confident that jobseekers and talented, young individuals actually know what a builders’ merchant is? And more precisely, what it means to work for one?
“Talk about a career in construction and young people, schools, careers advisers and even older job switchers typically picture a building site. Specifically talk about working for a merchant, and they don’t really understand what it can offer them.”
The name itself is a rather grand old term and as we have previously ruminated, it is arguably easier in many ways to explain what a builders’ merchant isn’t than define what it is… And in recent years, a precise description has become even more tricky as the sector has evolved to encompass elements like retail showrooms and online trading.
Of course, those already in the sector know what it means and will patiently correct friends and acquaintances by explaining: “no, it’s not like B&Q” or politely applauding the umpteenth industry awards host who misread the brief and thinks he or she is addressing a room full of builders…
All of this adds up to a very real problem when it comes to securing the future of the sector. Talk about a career in construction and young people, schools, careers advisers and even older job switchers typically picture a building site. Specifically talk about working for a merchant, and they don’t really understand what it can offer them.
Against this backdrop, I’d urge you to support the BMF’s new ‘sector awareness’ initiative (and see our feature on pages 10-11 of the issue). The comprehensive, long-term programme has been designed to raise the profile of the ‘building materials industry’ itself among the public and the nation’s decision makers, whilst also providing a platform for recruiting the best talent — how it can be a career of choice, and not just an industry you either fall into or are born into.
To quote BMF CEO John Newcomb: “By working together, we can shape and strengthen the future of our industry. Aimed at career starters and career switchers, as well those already working in the sector, this is a long-term programme that will make our industry an employment destination rather than an after-thought.”
Ahead of a full, national launch later in the year, the BMF is now looking for member feedback and engagement to “drive recruitment in our industry and compete harder for talent,” with John also adding: “If we are to attract, retain and grow talent we must build pride in our sector.”
This also speaks to the programme’s underlying aim of boosting the profile of the sector more generally. We hear all-too-often about the power and influence of other industries, but the vitally important building materials sector is still misunderstood in terms of its importance to UK plc — the logistics behind newbuild development and infrastructure to the delivery of substantive domestic retrofit.
Indeed, we’ve seen with the many failed green initiatives of recent years that when the sector is overlooked, such programmes simply collapse and yet the pandemic showed just how central (literally…) the building materials sector is in keeping so much of the country’s economy moving.
It is now time to fully recognise just how it makes a material difference.
