Why construction should copy football and focus on youth

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to resemble a Buzzfeed article where we make a tenuous link between two seemingly unconnected entities. Ok, but hear us out at least.

For the football fans among you who listen to any sort of phone-in, watch Gary Neville on a Monday night or read the sports press, you’ll know that the sport is constantly harping on about the importance of youth and why they should be invested in and trusted. Some would say that’s a fair argument, after all, as Sir Alex Ferguson found out investing in youngsters can make all the difference. And while we’re not suggesting that focusing on youth could help you to develop a workforce akin to the ‘Class of ‘92’, it could actually help to tackle one of the most critical issues currently facing the industry – skills shortages.

The dearth of talent in the construction industry has been well publicised, but perhaps not as well as it should have been. A lack of professionals, both skilled and unskilled, could potentially have a critical impact on the industry and could ultimately affect productivity and even make projects grind to a halt in the not so distant future.

So what is being done to tackle them? As many of you will be aware, there’s been a big push to bolster the number of apprentices in the industry and we have launched our campaign, ‘One Way Into Construction’ to encourage more youngsters to enter the field. There are also a whole host of smaller initiatives aimed at the end of the workforce who either left during the recession, have recently retired or have moved away from the field for their own reasons.

However, what we haven’t seen is a proper push to promote opportunities to youngsters at an age where they might actually be influenced to want to pursue a career in construction. Currently, the vast majority of employers engage with people doing their GCSEs, or who are at college, most of whom have already decided what they want to do or, crucially, what they don’t want to do.

Part of the issue is certainly down to the external image of the industry. To most, it’s seen as digging ditches in the dirt and while we all know there is undoubtedly an unglamorous side to working in construction, not enough is being done to promote the good aspects, of which there are many, and the potential a career can hold. People joining the industry have the chance to work on projects that can change lives, skyscrapers that can shape city skylines and use technology like drones and driverless vehicles that professionals in other fields could only dream about. And let’s not forget that many of these people are earning considerably more than many of those working in more ‘professional’ industries. It may not seem like an ideal job when you’re 500ft up in the rain, but trust me, there are thousands of people who would love the chance to get away from their desk and join you if they had the chance.

The fact more people don’t enter the industry is largely down to the fact that we don’t actually engage with youngsters to the extent that other industries do, so most people don’t actually have an idea that this sort of potential is on offer. The likes of technology and financial services employers engage with children at a young age and promote the exciting opportunities they have, so why doesn’t construction?

Unfortunately, we’ve now gone past the stage where everyone could have sat down and debated the detail of a major initiative targeting youngsters. Skills shortages are here, they’re real and they could have a critical impact before you even realise it, particularly if freedom of movement laws change and we lose a chunk of the existing workforce. Construction accounts for around 8% of overall GDP and few other major industries would allow themselves to get in such a concerning state. So why not take a lesson from football, invest in youth and see if kids can help construction get back on its feet.

Paul Payne, Managing Director of One Way

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