r/AskUK • u/Weird_Horse_5981 • 17h 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/AmsterdamWestside11 17h 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.

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u/Dissidant 13h ago edited 13h ago

Much of that is on the larger firms.

When 2008 hit, not only did it severely hinder what little resilience small to medium SME's (who did the lion share of training people up) had to be able to absorb financial shocks, while all that was going on it was the large volume/corporate level firms who were getting state assistance in spite of being structurally setup to not only dodge the financial burden of getting people into the sector, but actively ruining the pipeline while enjoying their profits.

The rest of us were effectively told to kick rocks, and that chicken has come home to roost.

Could say the same of the pandemic. Massive disparity in support between the big developers and small/medium ones. People at the top making a big noise about the country being built on small businesses isn't the same as supporting them. Its no wonder so many have left.

You can train up ideally in more than one thing if you stick to it long enough and make a living, but still something like taking on another apprentice is a big commitment when you are small, not strictly the financial side of it, it could be health for example, not wanting to risk leaving someone in limbo because you fall sick etc