Skills for the future

Construction is booming. This will come as no surprise to anybody involved in the industry and will be no comfort to those sectors still struggling to not just emerge from the effects of the pandemic but to even survive. Demand for skilled tradespeople in construction as well as engineering is surging because these sectors are accelerating faster than anticipated.

With unemployment expected to increase in the UK overall in the coming months talk of a skills shortage has reared its ugly head once again. The Building Engineering Services Association warns that without significant investment in upskilling existing workers and adding to the sector’s headcount the industry would struggle to keep pace as the industry bounces back from the pandemic. BESA added that Brexit is also squeezing the labour market and exacerbating skills shortages that had been building up in the years before the Covid crisis.

This is happening in the wake of the of the Government’s announcement that it has scrapped the Green Homes Grant scheme. Now the subject of an enquiry by the National Audit Office (see page 6) the grant could have been the kick start for a major resurgence of training in the green collar sector. Instead it has been a body blow to the retrofit industry. A massive gap exists between the UK’s current capacity to retrofit homes and install heat pumps, and the sheer volume of work needed if we are to achieve zero carbon by 2050. According to the Climate Change Commission’s 6th carbon budget nearly 11m homes need to be retrofitted by 2035. There are only 950 heat pump installers accredited by MCS – the UK’s standards body in this area – compared to 96,000 installers of fossil fuel systems. TheUK Government said in Nov 2020that 600,000 heat pumps must be installed per year by 2028. There is a need for rapid re-training of workers if the UK is to come close to reaching this goal.

There is a massive opportunity for the government to fill these capacity gaps and create thousands of new jobs by creating a new, green workforce. Yes, there are innovators out there training but their efforts are just a drop in the ocean of what is required. Targeted Government investment will bring a reskilling of the workforce and bring new jobs. In addition, with COP26 fast approaching it would clearly demonstrate the UK’s commitment to being a leader in green investment.