Across the industry, 43% of survey respondents expect to make redundancies, with some laying off as much as 20% of their workforce. In addition, 6.7% of apprentices are likely to lose their jobs by September, and 60% of respondents are looking to take on fewer apprentices at the next intake. The ‘People Survey’ was carried to help inform the Construction Leadership Council’s planning for industry recovery. The number of respondents to the survey was not disclosed, but 25% of survey respondents were material suppliers, 20% were consultants, 32% were specialist contractors and 15% were main contractors. Specialist contractors and main contractors both averaged 11.4% for expected redundancies. To understand the impact of coronavirus on jobs, the People Survey asked about employment levels three months ago (March) and anticipated employment levels in three months’ time (September). Respondents currently directly employ 89% of their workers, with the remaining 11% being self-employed or agency workers. • On average, 32% of direct employees are currently furloughed, with all sectors of the industry having accessed the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme at some point. • There is expected to be a 7.7% reduction in the number of directly employed workers across the industry by September. • In the longer term, 43% of respondents anticipate making redundancies, with up to 20% of their workforce being affected. • There is expected to be a 26.7% reduction in..
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Construction has the lowest percentage of female workers of any industry in the UK, according to a Their report said that women make up just 11% of the workforce, with only 1% directly employed in the construction process – such as manual trades. The rest are mainly office-based, working in admin and secretarial positions. These are startling statistics for the 21st century, and highlight an uncomfortable truth for the industry. Public image is certainly part of the problem. The dominant construction worker stereotype is still of a man wearing trousers cut too low at the back, wolf-whistling female passers-by. And, perhaps unfairly, construction is often seen as an industry for poorly paid, low-skilled labourers, rather than qualified workers embarking on a successful, long-term career. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why women are put off. And the apparent pay gap does little to dispel myths. by salary research organisation PayScale found that the average salary for men working in the industrial construction sector is almost £33,000. For women it stands at just over £24,000. The knock-on effect of these issues is that women thinking about entering the industry have no role models to look up to and emulate. It appears many women who decide to follow a construction career only do so because they want to follow in the footsteps of a family member. The Smith Institute’s study also points..
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