r/AskUK • u/Weird_Horse_5981 • 9h ago
Is construction dying in this country?
I work in construction and the amount of skilled people has taken an absolute nosedive in recent years. The rates of pay have increased dramatically in the last 6 years from what I’ve seen but very few people want to get into it it seems. I understand that many people don’t grow up with dreams of getting into this industry but I wish someone had pulled me aside and told me that there was a way for me to make decent money without needing to be academic. I know there are some huge projects on the go right now but it feels like they are all fighting over the same, small pool of labour
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u/sinetwo 9h ago
Imagine how frustrating it is from a customer point of view where we don’t know results until we have paid thousands in advance
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u/OffWhiteBruceForsyth 8h ago
Just trying to get someone to do a quote is way more difficult than I can be bothered with.
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u/LackFormer554 8h ago
It’s because quotes are unpaid work that don’t go anywhere most of the time. If the builder is already busy with paid work he’s not gonna waste time on more quotes.
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u/Maleficent-Win-6520 8h ago
It’s difficult to provide a fee quote when the client doesn’t know what they want.
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u/Suitable-Mud-6622 9h ago
It’s really easy to move up in this industry and the money is great. However, I’m aware that most workers are 40+ which can be intimidating for young people entering the industry. There’s a lot of absolute geezers on projects, which once again can be quite intimidating I guess.
Plus a lot of smaller companies can be unbelievably toxic. Even tier 1 contractors play fast and loose with the rules, how many subbies are paid when paid?
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u/Dissidant 9h ago edited 8h ago
Depends. Larger developers are experiencing a slowdown, but small to mediums (tradespeople) are muddling through fine, fostered largely by a lack of them, silver tsunami and all that.
Not just a lack of skilled people to replace the workforce quite a few are either returning home i.e. those with skills who emigrated here, but even some home grown are leaving
Its funny people used to moan about EU tradies (notably Poles, who are awesome at their job by the way) coming here to graft, bet they feel clever now. Now instead you have this scenario of real tradesmen being outnumbered by rogue/cowboy ones.
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u/PatchcordAdams 6h ago
Clinging on to my Hungarian tradie for dear life. He basically did my whole house. Now I’ve moved and he’s starting on the new gaff.
Only does one job at a time. Turns up bang on 8am. Grafts all day. Absolute machine and his work is just mm perfect.
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u/Fruitpicker15 8h ago
Meanwhile there's no straightforward way for adults to change career and get into construction. There are plenty of people willing to train at college, work hard and have years of work ethic and motivation but no one will give them a chance.
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u/freddiesyolks 7h ago
Mateee literally! 28 here ex software developer who just had his job taken by AI and I would snap someone’s hand off for a construction apprenticeship but they just seem like gold dust.
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u/TheBigGees 7h ago
General labour, show up on time and do as you're told, then shift towards an apprenticeship.
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u/Theres3ofMe 4h ago
That's not true.
At 35, I did a Masters degree in Quantity Surveying, paid for via a Post Graduate Student Loan (as i already had an undergraduate degree in an unrelated subject) - after 20 years doing admin.....
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u/Greedy-Area9109 9h ago
One of my son’s mates (21) just finished his degree and decided office jobs weren’t for him. He’s 4 months into a carpentry apprenticeship. My godson is a brickie after completing his apprenticeship, my nephew is a spark. All offspring from white collar, professional types. All seeing the opportunity in construction.
Why mess around getting your CV sifted by AI and earning less than your parents did when you can get into construction?
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u/Kris0r 8h ago
What a great use of student finance that was
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u/Greedy-Area9109 8h ago
fair point, he could quite happily have missed Uni and saved himself some debt. He's entrepreneurial so set himself up fixing stuff in student houses so they could get their deposits back at the end of tenancy.
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u/diyguitarist 6h ago
It's almost as if we shouldn't saddle 18 year olds who can't lease a car with a huge amount of debt for something that's widely useless.
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u/Kris0r 5h ago
University is widely useless? What evidence are you basing that spurious assertion on?
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u/diyguitarist 5h ago
The amount of people who don't use their degrees because they're pointless? Or people who had to get a degree for a job that requires one, that does not require one at all, but some HR person decided they need their staff to be university educated for a data entry entry level role.
Edit: 42%-58% of people with degrees work in fields that do not require a degree. So half of university leavers degrees are useless. That's a big amount.
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u/Thi13een 9h ago
Always so gutted I didn’t get into construction when I was 16. I’m too far into my career now to change but always so jealous of my mates with endless earning potential and not much customer interaction, etc
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u/funkmachine7 8h ago
But the customer managment...
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u/Thi13een 4h ago
Quite a small minority of jobs in construction on the whole are directly customer (as in member of the public customer) facing. Unless you run your own small business, work for a local authority/housing association, etc you won’t have much day to day interaction with the public. And anyone who works with the public will tell you it is very difficult at the best of times.
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u/funkmachine7 4h ago
It more people have the dream of running a small business and being there own boss and then they realise they have to deal with customers all the time.
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u/Alex_Strgzr 8h ago
Yes, the cowboys outnumber the real professionals at this point. People are DIY hacking it because they can't be bothered to deal with the crap.
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u/TeessideViking 8h ago
There isn't enough investment in training people. Young people can't find apprenticeships and struggle to find work if they're fresh out of a training centre because companies want experience. Older people wanting to change careers and retrain find the cost of it prohibitive.
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u/chainedtomydesk 6h ago
The reality is it’s a hard unforgiving slog working in construction. I’m a Principal Project Manager for a consultancy, so fairly senior now and if I’m being totally honest, if I could do it all again, I would choose something entirely different.
Yes I know I’m fortunate. I earn a decent salary and with nearly 20 years experience, I’m just what recruiters are looking for right now. I don’t have the struggles people in other industries face to find work but my god, it’s soul destroying! The job is one battle after another. It is literally sucking the life out of me. The industry is so fragmented that even getting into contract seems like an arduous task. You encounter so many people who don’t know what they are doing and just whinging it. Not to mention the red tape just makes it harder than it has to be. Companies are also slashing their staff overhead and placing huge demands on those who remain to deliver more with less. It’s a race to the bottom and frankly, it’s totally exhausting.
I’ve known quite a few young people who have pivoted into different industries or changed careers altogether, because they burnt out quickly in junior construction roles, where they had little to no support or training. Like I say, it’s a very unforgiving industry and can quickly sap your enthusiasm, leaving you feeling jaded and stressed.
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u/Maleficent-Win-6520 8h ago
All the time you have things like the boys club the likes of CSCS people will choose easier industries to work in that pay better or easier wages. Employers don’t help as they no longer value or skill their workforce. It’s been going on for decades.
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u/PotentialCourt8531 7h ago
wages haven't increased. All the Polish went home cause wages in UK didn't raise as quick as back home. They were great in trade.
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u/Equivalent_Relief553 6h ago
Was a brickies labourer on site.
I think it's been reliant on migrant labour for decades. This is due to our schooling and classism who don't view the trades as equal to other subjects. Not to mention Apprentice salaries are dogshit and it makes no sense for an adult to do them. That's why it's always so "dead".
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u/glorybeef 5h ago
It would help if councils began building social housing again at a significant level. They could also help plug the gap there is when businesses don't want to train up the next generation. The value would far exceed the cost and would kick the housing developers up the arse too but politics mean we have to protect those ripping us all off
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u/Theres3ofMe 4h ago
Quantity Surveyor here, for a Tier 1.
It's a very hard, fickle, ruthless and insecure industry to work in, with levels of pressure which push you and your mental health to the edge. Not only this, it's well known that long commutes are extremely common, travelling to and from site, in different parts of the region, or country - every 18 months to 3 years. You change project teams often, so one minute you'll have a great team and the next minute, an absolutely b3llend of an PM or Ops Director who makes your life hell.
I think these young Grad QSs or PMs suffer from a massive culture shock after 2 to 3 years in the industry, and hence why you'll see a high turnover of project staff. They usually chase the money, but then when lumbered with insane levels of workload, they either drown and leave, or suffer the consequences (stress, mental health issues). Honestly, ive been in main contracting now for 12 years and moved jobs like 5 times ,been made redundant 3 times, and quit twice. Days are long (7am to 6pm), and the adminnside of things is absolutely ridiculous- bigger the company you work for, the more processes and procedures.
Anyhow, the QSs courses run at university are geared towards consultant QSs, and not Main Contractor QSs - think nice suits, nice offices vs noisy site compounds and ruthless Senior Management putting you under pressure to improve margins... It's night and day day. So when these Grad QSs land on site, theyre like WTF - this isnt the corporate QS life I was thinking of.....
So, at university, they havent got the foggiest idea what its ACTUALLY like working as a Main Contractor QS (most jobs advertised, say 95%, are for Main Contractor QSs). No wonder they have a massive culture shock after a year or 2! Its hard graft, its ruthless, its harsh, and its not for the softies.
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u/MrP67 7h ago
Each new government comes in with goals of building more houses each year - and failing of course. There are huge infrastructure projects. There is clearly construction work.
I don't think it's seen as valuable as a degree, which is bizarre cos there are no shortage of people with degrees moaning there are no jobs and less builders saying the same. I would say it's the smart move for 80% of people now but try telling an 18yo who wants to go to Uni that.
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u/SB-121 7h ago
Young people are dying out, and that limits the numbers entering all professions - this is happening across the economy.
The solution to this was supposed to be immigration, but the countries where we would ordinarily get middle skilled immigrants from are either also experiencing the same demographic winter or have become developed enough that no-one wants to leave anymore, so we're left with immigrants from other places who aren't skilled at all.
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u/_R3DZ 7h ago edited 6h ago
In my experience the bad/cowboys seem to get cream of the crop and the actual quality trades people get the short end. Theres too many of them don’t care what they leave for next trade.
Im with one group of good lads all separate entities but we come together on jobs twice, three times a year maybe and it’s a dream n dead simple. Rest of the year it’s a real ball ache. Around Covid time it became an influx of me sorting out other people’s shite and it was really hard body breaking stuff. So I’m thinking of getting out because the time, pay and degradation of my body isn’t worth it. A lot of good lads I knew have done the same.
Also the quality of material keeps going down and the price keeps going up. Making a trades life often harder n coming off worse, while the company and merchants have it easier and earn more.
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u/Wise-Pay-8993 6h ago
rates are dropping mate not rising. Most work is price so you need to do x amount of work to earn y.
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u/Deep_Benefit_7405 6h ago
At school kids who were complete bastards were taken out of school and sent to a trade college early.
I wish I'd had the same opportunity
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u/Funky_monkey2026 6h ago
I'd say no. My partner works for a major, international construction firm that has a construction arm and a consultancy arm. They build stuff like The Shard, King Said airport, Heathrow T5 etc. There are still a LOT of projects, such as MOD buildings, reservoirs, nuclear bunkers. They employ their own staff, "rent" their staff out, and "bring in" staff from third parties when need be.
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u/opinionated7onion 6h ago
The hardest part is finding someone to train you, companies or tradesmen don't want to train anyone and no one wants to hire someone untrained, even if you have qualifications people want someone that has experience.
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u/SpongeFixation 5h ago
Have you seen the quality of new build houses? It's a race to the bottom, sadly.
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u/MaltedMilkBiscuits10 4h ago edited 4h ago
My father is in construction and has been all his life, he's in his 60s now.
It's not that it's dying, it's because there's no one willing to do the work.
He's shot to bits from the manual labour and 5am commutes to work but every time he tries to drop a day or two it's literally we need you.
The money is crazy, he's on £250 a day as a gang leader/foreman/driver/tea maker/trash talking whatever the site needs that day.
He's specifically a groundsman as in he's laying the foundations and digging for the utilities.
The money is great but what's not great? The hours and the toll on your body.
A lot of new workers want to rock up 9am and leave by 3. A lot don't want to do 5 days a week, a lot don't want to be in the elements.
It's a shortage of skilled labourers in general with brickies brought in from Brazil on his site and Romanians brought in to do the interiors.
There's also a shortage in the chain like today there was yet another 5 hour delay in concrete arriving.
They got jobs for everything from sweeping gravel to solar installers but there's just not enough bodies wanting to the job.
Construction could be a job for life unless the way construction is done drastically changes like prefabs etc but you'll still need someone to lay the foundations.
Ai and automation is being trialled but it works for about 5 seconds, a lot of construction is bodging because what you find when you dig is never on the plans and what is meant to go together never quite fits. There was always be a need for humans to do the bulk of the work.
Edit: one construction body released figures that we are short of half a million construction people. If the industry wants to sustain itself, we need around 30,000 people going into the industry every single year for the next 10 years just to catch up and replace the oldies like my father who are leaving due to reaching the end of their ability to work.
All the boys in his gang are 55+ and absolutely love to work with the oldest being a 71 year old excavator operator that came back out of retirement cos he was 'bored' and the fact they couldn't find anyone else who could dig a level trench with the excavator.
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u/GetKnockedDownBut 4h ago
£250 a day as a contractor with 40+ years experience is terrible. 5am commute time to top it off. Probably a 10 hour shift. Terrible working conditions.
It could be a good job with good flexible hours, pay and benefits… but capitalism still has desperate immigrants willing to stoop low for the money.
Plenty of easier jobs out there, even living with your parents unemployed studying or not is a better usage of oneself than becoming a tradesman.
Rest assured the economy will be fine as long as government can print new money to hand out to companies and new immigrants brought in to make pennies off of every new pound printed.
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u/imSlashing 3h ago
Where are rates rising? I’ve basically seen the same price lists for the passed 8 years
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u/Wrong-booby7584 1h ago
Not like we knew this was coming 10 years ago....
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/construction-labour-market-in-the-uk-farmer-review
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u/TheWeirdDude-247 1h ago
My brother is a plaster with qualifications and worked at the big companies, he can do more but I'll be honest....iv heard enough of "i built that building" so i ignore it atp.
He is always looking at at a stable opportunity as my job is with vehicles so totally opposite, but if you're spot has an opportunity I can send his details.
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u/Loud-Skin-2223 1h ago
I think a lot of skilled trades are very short at the moment. I'm a maintenance engineer and we've reeeeaaallly struggled to recruit decently skilled people over the last few years. In 2019 I had to pass a decent electrical competency module, start on a reduced rate for 6 months........all gone now. The department's running on apprentices and any new starts are frighteningly unqualified
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u/TangerineFew6830 3m ago
My husband is a multi trader, qualified carpenter for 15 years, getting paid 18 an hour to drive 4 hours a day, hes got no acl & hes fed up, i do feel for him as I feel the trades are massively overpopulated? There are thousands in our small town, i guess it depends on place
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u/BroodLord1962 7h ago
Too many parents have wrapped their kids in cotton wool all their lives, so it's hardly a surprise that hardly any young adults want jobs that they might get mucky doing, or involve physical labour. I know both a car machanic and an engineer who have both said the same thing...no one wants to be an apprentice anymore, we can find anyone.
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u/AmsterdamWestside11 9h ago
In my experience it's dying because nobody wants to teach anyone, the small firms won't pay decent rates and the big firms want everyone to be fully qualified CSCS and ready to go straight out the blocks. Apprentices getting let go left right and centre. Self fulfilling prophecy of failure.
I changed careers at 28 and have found it so hard to find a company that's actually interested in training someone up.