For a successful industry we need a steady supply of new entrants, and we all know we have a challenge on our hands with this. The CITB revealed in its annual CSN report, that the UK will need over 250,000 extra construction workers by 2028 to meet current demand.
This is one reason why CECA Midlands plays a key role in shaping the future of the civil engineering industry. Attracting a diverse workforce that has a variety of skills we need now and for the future is the key to keeping our industry going.
I personally feel passionate about careers. As a qualified career adviser and an advocate for skills it’s an area that lies close to my heart. This may be a controversial opinion, but I believe our next generation workforce need to be able to fairly decide that a career in construction isn’t for them. Hear me out…
At the moment, most young people don’t consider construction as a career route at all. There are many prejudices against our sector – it’s male dominated, the work is physically demanding, there is no obvious career path. But what can be even worse is that construction often isn’t a sector that ever springs to mind.
If our sector can overturn this, we have a fighting chance at attracting some of those 250,000 people. We know civil engineering is an exciting sector, with lots of opportunity, good progression routes, good training and good pay but this message isn’t getting through.
Therefore, choice is the key; we want people to actively chose or not chose a career in construction. Knowledge is power, and choice can only be generated from getting our message out further than we have before.
And that’s why CECA Midlands has been working with its Foundations Group to help support our members in getting this message across. National Careers Week gives us the opportunity to focus on this, but we should be working continuously to showcase careers in our great sector.
I am proud to launch our new careers toolkit that all members can use. We have developed a presentation to be used when speaking to young people, and we have a new careers video that promotes the wide range of roles in civil engineering and construction across the Midlands region.
Together through choice, we can build a sustainable, skilled workforce for the future of civil engineering in the Midlands and beyond.