In today’s news, we will investigate the ways in which the European Union and the United Kingdom are addressing the labour crisis in the construction industry. Meanwhile, keeping an ear to the ground: there were discoveries made regarding re-flow at UK Construction Week. Last but not least, the United Kingdom government has increased its monitoring of the High Speed Two (HS2) project in response to the rising costs.
EU-UK Construction Labour Crisis Response
Original Source: How EU and UK is Tackling the Construction Labour Crisis
Looking at the construction industry’s response to skills shortages and recruitment concerns, we can see that large infrastructure projects across the EU are facing some serious problems.
Unprecedented labor shortages are endangering project delivery timelines and driving up costs in the European construction industry. Both massive infrastructure projects and home construction programs are impacted by the current scenario.
Data recently released by the EFCA, the European organization that represents engineering consultants, sheds light on the scope of the issue.
Roberto Carpaneto, a board member, says: “In the construction and service sector, labour shortages were reported to be a limit to growth in 31% of cases in the European Union last year.”
These difficulties are shown by the German market. Construction enterprises across Germany are being represented by the association Bau Industrie, which has reported high vacancy rates. “In 2023, there were around 52,000 vacancies in the sector,” says Marius Graf, its EU Economic & Social Policy Consultant. It is believed, however, that the actual number is substantially greater due to the large number of unreported vacancies.
Construction workforce retention issue in the European Union
Riccardo Viaggi, Secretary General at the Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE), which represents construction equipment manufacturers, stated that the reliance on migrant workers to address skills gaps in the industry is becoming increasingly problematic.
“Immigration is a lifeline for many countries, particularly in Western Europe and across Europe,” he explains. It is a known and essential part of the worker mix, but it can be politically delicate. But once they get the hang of it, they usually quit the industry.
The issue is not limited to recruitment; retention is also a major one, as employees frequently seek out other businesses that can provide better working conditions or opportunities for advancement. Because of this, the necessity for training and recruitment never ends.
Needs for skill development and technology adoption
There is a critical scarcity of workers in the construction industry, and the industry must adjust to accommodate new technologies. This calls for fresh ways of teaching and honing abilities.
In a statement, Lena Guyon, the European Construction Industry Federation’s (FIEC) Policy Officer for Social Affairs, stressed the need of collaboration.
“The government and educational system, in addition to companies, must collaborate to enhance training centers,” she states. “Educators should also undergo professional development on how to effectively utilize emerging technology in the classroom.”
There has to be a sea change in how the industry trains its employees, and everyone is on the same page about it. According to Viaggi, it is crucial to tackle the problem of diversity and inclusion in the workplace if we wish to retain our employees. It’s not enough to make the industry more appealing and cross your fingers.
Efforts are now being made to update training programs and establish distinct career routes. As part of this effort, training programs will incorporate sustainable building practices and cutting-edge technological tools.
The future of construction depends on the following areas of expertise: data science, green technology, robotics, materials innovation, smart cities, and more. To prepare for these areas, governments and educational institutions must work together, according to Karen Plumbley-Jones, managing partner at the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson, which offers legal services to the construction sector.
Watching UK Construction Week for Re-flow Surprises
Original Source: An ear to the ground: Re-flow discoveries at UK Construction Week
The biggest built environment event in the UK, UK Construction Week has been attracting thousands of exhibitors from across the world since 2015. The Re-flow team spent three days at the Birmingham NEC from October 1st to 3rd showcasing the software, learning about the business, and interacting with both new and old clients.
Participating in the keynote speeches and panel discussions allowed me to stay abreast of developments in my field, as is customary at any trade event. In this piece, we will examine a handful of these. Our most recent Construction Report also addressed several of these points.
Topics discussed during the performance
From manufacturing procedures to equality in construction, the speakers at UK Construction Week covered it all.
Transparency in Manufacturing
An issue that came up in multiple presentations was the importance of being more open about how products are made. A Spotlight on Safety: The Importance of Accurate and Up-To-Date Product Information and the Roofing Today Panel both took a close look at the CCPI.
By “to raise standards in construction product information and marketing and drive positive culture change,” the CCPI (Code for Construction Product information) hopes to achieve its stated goals. Initiated in the aftermath of Grenfell, the CCPI seeks to increase transparency in manufacturing processes, foster a more accountable industry culture, and clarify construction product sales and marketing data.
The presentations emphasised the need of uniform building product information for supply chain optimisation, effective sourcing, and material safety and suitability.
In the future of construction, there will be more regulations and more openness. It will be vital for enterprises to be compliant and for clients to have faith in the materials used, thus transparency regarding these aspects will be crucial.
Issues of employment equity and construction
Equality in the workplace was another significant subject. In a presentation titled “Gender Balance in Construction,” the advantages of having more women work in the field were discussed. Women only make up 14% to 18% of the workforce, hence speakers stressed the need of increasing this percentage to combat the persistent labour shortage. Mates in Mind also had an interesting discussion regarding construction workers’ mental health, implying that the industry’s pervasive macho culture prevents workers from talking openly about their own wellbeing. The speakers all agreed that a more diverse workforce may help the sector shake off these stereotypes and create a better place to work.
Difficulty with regulations and objectives in home construction
More rules have been imposed on the building industry in the last three years compared to the prior thirty years combined. Although this was viewed as a positive change, particularly in the wake of Grenfell, the conversation also brought to light the difficulty of increasing the number of homes being built to fulfil the government’s goals. In the next five years, the United Kingdom plans to construct 1.5 million homes, a considerable increase from the existing rate of 140,000 homes per year, as stated in the presentation, UK Construction Industry Outlook: Navigating the Impact of External Economic Factors and Government Policies on the Construction Industry. Experts agreed that SMEs will need to play a larger role if we are to achieve this lofty target.
Another perk is that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would be more inclined to hire apprentices, which would aid in filling the skill gap. Artificial intelligence was last but not least touched upon. It was acknowledged, however, that AI may assist in filling employment gaps rather than displacing human workers.
The user-friendly field management software from Re-flow can help you improve procedures and gain visibility.
Construction organisations may have challenges when it comes to compliance and maintaining clear visibility into job progress. One of the biggest issues in the sector is standardisation, but field management software can help with that.
The goal of Re-flow is to provide companies with the transparency and regulation compliance they need to function at peak efficiency. Forms that are easy to use alleviate paperwork burdens, which in turn makes operatives feel more compliant and process focused. All forms and signoffs must be completed regardless of circumstances because they are mandatory chores that must be completed before jobs can advance. Using Re-flow, a company may create an impenetrable audit trail by automatically collecting all form submissions. Management can see exactly what their teams are up to, what they’ve accomplished, and where they stand in relation to all tasks, assets, documents, and operations thanks to Re-flow.
Just what makes Re-flow the best option?
In the event that you or your business is in the market for:
- A solution for managing workflows, documents, and jobs in real-time.
- Everything you need is right here: a streamlined workflow for tracking jobs, worker qualifications, scheduling assets, communicating instantly within the app, optimising health and safety processes on-site, risk assessments, and vehicle checks.
- Offline, dependable, and fully functional; no crashing, hanging, or confusing menus. Regardless of how far away they are, operators always have what they need to do their tasks at their fingertips.
- Capable of streamlining processes through the use of form submissions that set off alerts and automate workflows.
HS2 Oversight Tightened by UK Government Amid Rising Costs
Original Source: UK Government tightens oversight on HS2 amid soaring costs
News of new “tough measures” to “bring the cost and delivery… back under control” regarding the HS2 high-speed train project was announced in a statement issued by the office of UK Transport Secretary Louise Haigh.
Positive improvement can be achieved by “reinstating ministerial oversight of the project to ensure greater accountability,” according to the statement.
“Effectively securing the full benefits of the railway will require regular meetings between the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Peter Hendy, the Transport Secretary, and the Rail Minister, to challenge delivery and remove obstacles.”
Whether the massive and difficult plan was losing £10 billion or £20 billion (around US$13 billion or $26 billion) was recently described as “unclear” by UK media.
The British government blamed a lack of clarity on “what is to be done to deliver to budget” for the escalation of inflation, bad supply-chain performance, and years of ineffective project management.
An independent study of the project, focussing on Phase 1 (Birmingham to London), was recently announced by the UK Secretary of State. According to the announcement, the government is now not interested in reviving the project, which was once known as Phase 2 (the Birmingham to Manchester line).
“Since becoming Transport Secretary I have seen up close the scale of failure in project delivery – and it’s dire,” Secretary Haigh stated, adding, “It has long been clear that the costs of HS2 have been allowed to spiral out of control.”
According to the central government, James Stewart, a senior infrastructure delivery expert, will head up the Major Transport Projects Governance and Assurance Review, which is expected to provide its findings this winter.
“It will look into how big transportation infrastructure projects are monitored, how well costs, schedules, and benefits are predicted and reported, and what steps are taken to achieve cost savings. The government further stated that the evaluation will mainly use HS2’s current experiences to make sure that lessons learnt are used to both the project’s delivery and future endeavours.
Meanwhile, the government has pointed out that the primary HS2 contractors’ incentives are under review, which might cause some contracts to be renegotiated or changed. In 2020, the primary contract was awarded to a Balfour Beatty Vinci joint venture.
The total estimated cost of the HS2 project was over $100 billion before the decision to abandon the Phase 2 northern extension was made. The anticipated cost of the shorter version exceeds $80 billion.
We anticipate the project’s completion in the year 2033.
Summary of today’s construction news
As a whole, big infrastructure projects all around the European Union are encountering some major challenges, as we noted when examining the construction industry’s reaction to talent shortages and recruitment worries. In the European construction industry, costs are rising and project delivery timelines are in jeopardy due to unprecedented labour shortages. The current situation affects both large-scale infrastructure projects and home construction plans. At the same time, UK Construction Week, the country’s largest event dedicated to the built environment, has been welcoming hundreds of international exhibitors since 2015. Over the course of three days (October 1st–3rd) at the Birmingham NEC, the Re-flow team showcased the software, learnt about the business, and interacted with both existing and potential clients. Finally, a communiqué from the office of UK Transport Secretary Louise Haigh announced new “tough measures” to “bring the cost and delivery… back under control” with reference to the HS2 high-speed train project. By “reinstating ministerial oversight of the project to ensure greater accountability,” the statement claims, things may be improved.