School leavers urged to consider construction industry

Young people who are leaving school this summer have been targeted by construction experts in a bid to encourage some of them to seek a career in the building trade. School leavers from York and other parts of North and East Yorkshire who are preparing to find out their GCSE and A-level results have been given a reminder of the benefits of a career in construction, reports the Press. Industry chiefs are becoming increasingly worried about the average age of workers in the sector, which could leave them with a lack of skilled employees in the coming years. Recent findings made by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) revealed that 18 per cent of workers currently in the building trade are aged between 45 and 54, meaning they will retire within the next ten years. It was also suggested that some 29,000 new workers will be needed each and every year over the coming years if construction firms are to maintain growth and keep up with the demands placed on them by UK consumers. Robert Dixon, 25, of Thirsk took the opportunity to praise the role a construction apprenticeship can play in a young person's life, having taken one himself after leaving school with GCSEs. "The great thing about the job is that it opens up so many doors to other trades. You can even be an architect once you have the qualifications. It's such a vibrant and busy industry to be in and you can even work abroad. I worked in France for six months rendering swimming pools," he explained. Steve Housden, sector strategy manager at the CITB in Yorkshire and the Humber, added he believes there is the potential for a skills time bomb over the coming years, so getting young people interested in construction now is a must. Pointing out the many advantages of taking construction jobs is just one of the key tasks facing industry experts in the near future.