Booming Market Sees Increased Demand for Skilled Workers
By Blayze Group
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs places shelter (property) as one of the most basic requirements to ensure general well-being. Unsurprising then that the property market as the provider of shelter be so intrinsically linked with the economy and in turn rates of employment.
Booming market
When the property market crumbles, the effects can be devastating on the job market. From financial services to architecture and building services to the humble hardware shop, the ripples through the economy leave no area untouched. Fortunately, we’re currently experiencing the flip side to that coin as the property market and resulting construction helps to drive forward strong economic growth and employment.
The UK and the city of London in particular are currently experiencing a property market boom. The residential sector appears to be leading the charge with new house building figures released by the National House-Building Council (NHBC) showing that new home registrations have hit their highest level since 2007.
The figures for Q3 of 2014 reveal that new home registrations have increased 8% on the same period last year representing the highest year to date figures and the highest Q3 figures since 2007. Overall, 36,343 new homes were registered with the NHBC between July and September this year. This represents a 14% increase for the private sector. Whilst the public sector is still under-performing, the NHBC anticipates that public sector registrations will begin to grow as the next phase of the Government's Affordable Housing Programme gets underway.
Importantly, the two main political parties have each individually pledged to boost house building. The Conservatives have promised to deliver 100,000 new discounted homes built on formerly commercial brownfield land and the Labour party have set the ambitious targets of building 200,000 homes a year by 2020, along with committing to doubling the amount of first time buyers to 60,000 a year.
What does this mean for the job market?
For the job market this boost and continued trend in growth will mean jobs and lots of them! At Blayze Group recruitment we’re seeing a rapid growth in all manner of roles relating to the real estate market. In the wake of the recession, many manager or professional level workers struggled to find work with some even transferring their skills by changing industry or leaving the country to work. This has left us with a shortage of workers particularly in the areas of site management, project management, surveying and technical.
Blayze Group are continuing to innovate with clients, developing transferrable skill recruitment projects to inject fresh talent into the industry. Harvey Gretton, Managing Director of Blayze Group commented:
“Developing innovative recruitment campaigns for our clients targeting non traditional sectors to identify candidates with strong transferrable skills, has worked extremely well in bringing high-calibre talent into the sector and enabling clients to deliver on their projects without resource delays affecting the programme.”
In addition, the construction industry is struggling to find skilled workers. The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) chief executive Brian Berry said: “Our latest research shows 41% of SME construction firms are now reporting difficulties in recruiting bricklayers - an increase of 7% when compared to three months ago.”
The head of Persimmon, Jeff Fairburn, also said that, “because all the developers are pushing hard … there’s going to be a squeeze on skills. All of the trades are affected and as a result we are not building quite as fast as we’d like to.”
Commercial sector growth
A further encouraging sign for the job market is that this surge in demand for workers hasn’t been restricted to the residential sector. In the commercial sector, the recent growth of office building has led to an increased demand for commercial fit out specialists and project managers. Moreover, in the retail sector we’re seeing planning for restaurants, cocktail bars and other luxury consumer outlets on the up. Unfortunately, a lack of leasing surveyors is holding up development and employers are frequently getting in touch with us to help sate the demand.
In the last 5 years, there has never been a better time to work in the real estate sector as skills shortages mean higher wages for those with skills in demand. Whether you’re temporarily out of work, looking for a new contract or just browsing, now is the time to get in touch with one of our recruiters.
About the author
Blayze Group recruitment is the preeminent search and selection firm within the real estate sector, finding suitable candidates for all types of positions from sales staff to senior management across construction, architecture, general practice, sales & marketing and surveying roles.
Contact us on 0207 593 5470 to discover the latest opportunities with leading employers in your sector.
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