West Midlands construction needs 25,000 new workers by 2025

The industry has bounced back quicker than expected from the Covid-19 pandemic, and most of the industry will reach 2019 levels of output next year.

The Construction Skills Network 2021-25, published today by the Construction Industry Training Board, forecasts that the amount of construction work in the West Midlands is set to grow by 4.8 per cent annually, on average, until the end of 2025, exceeding the UK average of 4.4 per cent, with private housing being the fastest growth area.

While the workforce of 225,900 is set to increase by 1.4 per cent over the next few years, an additional 25,000 workers will be needed to meet demand.

Key trades needed in the West Midlands include an extra 500 electricians and an additional 1,250 office staff per year to meet demand.

CITB’s senior customer engagement manager for the West Midlands, Lorraine Gregory, said: “There are a lot of exciting construction projects driving our industry in the West Midlands in the next few years, with city centre improvements meaning our region has even more work to do on average than the UK. Now we’ll be working closely with employers and learners to ensure our industry can recruit, train and grow sufficiently to fulfil this ambitious amount of work, so the West Midlands can help Britain build its way back to an economic recovery.”

In the West Midlands, major projects driving growth over the next few years include an infrastructure growth of 6.5 per cent, largely on city centre sites.

Construction continues on the West Midlands Metro, including the £344 million seven-mile extension from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill. Alexander Stadium and the Games Villages are being built for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, while the £210 million Birmingham Health Innovation Campus had already received funding from Birmingham City Council and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.

West Midlands construction will need an extra 5,000 workers per year to fulfil the amount of work forecast.

The West Midlands is fast becoming a centre for construction in housing and new infrastructure. With evidence from a report from CITB which showcased a shortfall in skilled plant workers with a growing future demand, City of Wolverhampton College recently opened a purpose-built plant training facility with support from Wolverhampton City Council, the West Midlands Combined Authority and industry partners. The facility will offer short part-time qualifications, NVQs and full-cost courses to train new staff – as well as boosting the skills of workers through the groundworks plant courses.

The college’s head of faculty for technology, creative and academic studies, Michael Dixon, said: “We are delighted to have developed the new centre which will enable us to provide high-quality sector-specific training to local people of all ages and abilities, from beginner to advanced level.”

However, it is not all good news – the commercial sector faces significant near-term risks while the public sectors could be impacted by tighter government finances.

CITB policy director Steve Radley said: “It’s great to see construction coming back so strongly and creating lots of job opportunities. We need to adopt new approaches to meet these growing skills needs and deliver these quickly. We are working closely with government and further education to build better bridges between centres of learning and work and make apprenticeships more flexible. We are also making significant investments in supporting work experience that make it easier for employers to bring in new blood.

“We must also make sure that we invest in the skills that will drive change and meet new and growing needs such as Net Zero emissions and building safety. We will be announcing plans soon to tackle specific skills and occupations such as leadership and management, digital skills and skills related to energy efficiency.”

The estimated number of new recruits needed annually in the West Midlands by trade are: business process managers, 350; project managers, 100; process managers, 500; office staff and IT support,1,250; trade supervisors, 150; building envelope specialists, 50; painters and decorators, 50; plasterers, 50; specialist operatives, 50; plant mechanics/fitters, 150; labourers, 450; electricians, 500; plumbers, 250; logisticians, 50; civil engineers, 50; technical staff, 650 and surveyors, 250.