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Employment and hiring trends in the construction industry in Ireland in 2019

Employment and hiring trends in the construction industry in Ireland in 2019. CONTENT. Introduction War for Talent Disciplines required How long will Skills Shortage last Conclusion. INTRODUCTION.

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Employment and hiring trends in the construction industry in Ireland in 2019

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  1. Employment and hiring trends in the construction industry in Ireland in 2019

  2. CONTENT • Introduction • War for Talent • Disciplines required • How long will Skills Shortage last • Conclusion

  3. INTRODUCTION • 15 years dealing with construction companies facing staffing challenges in Ireland and internationally – placements 300+ companies • In this presentation, we will identify and address some of the key issues Employers are facing: • Availability of labour • Unrealistic salary expectations • Job hopping / candidate loyalty • Poor quality and number of graduates • Conclude by offering some solutions to take away.

  4. INTRODUCTION • The CIF (Construction Industry Federation) has said the construction industry requires over 110,000 additional workers over the next 3 years alone. • Even with the uncertainty around BREXIT – ¾ of employers expect to hire in 2019 • Irish construction activity reached a 7-month high in Feb 2019, according to Ulster Bank's latest purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector. • Emigration no longer the issue - the labour market simply can't keep up with the pace of growth. • The shortage of skills is creating an extremely competitive candidate market which, if not countered, could negatively impact productivity and growth plans.

  5. Cont…

  6. Cont…

  7. Why are we here • In the 5 years from 2007 onwards, there was a massive contraction of the Irish construction industry. • Workers the industry, left the country, and young people did not go into construction courses in college or apprenticeships (Pettinger, 2013).

  8. Cont… • Construction output to reach €21bn in 2018, industry forecasts 20% growth in construction overall in 2019, with numerous large projects in the pipeline • Project Ireland includes a 10-year, €115bn programme to upgrade the State's roads and public transport, and address housing, health and educational needs to keep pace with population growth. (+1 million people over the next 20 years.) • New Children's Hospital, Dublin • Value €1billion??? Finish 2023; peak 1,800 workers on site. • This positivity and growth has driven an acute skills shortage: • 6,000 engineers will be needed to fill jobs in the next year  • 55% drop in civil and building engineering graduates over the last 5 years

  9. Cont… • There has been an increase in the salaries being offered nationally. Here is some averaged data on the salaries(2019 OUTLOOK: IRISH CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, 2019)

  10. War for Talent • In a bid to retain control on spiraling salary demands & attract/retain for staff, companies are now offering improved & more innovative benefits packages to include : • Pension • Healthcare • Improved working facilities (on site gyms etc..) • Education support • Professional subscriptions • Relocation packages • Signing on bonuses • Flexible working conditions.

  11. War for Talent • How can construction companies improve their hiring processes: • Improve on the basics eg. Job specifications; interview preparation • Optimize their online presence to promote culture: • ‘Day in the life’ • Improved PR – why should employees want to work in your company • Promotion announcements • Industry publications and events • Align with specialist recruitment partners – with industry experience • More flexibility around selection criteria – in the current climate. • Look outside traditional recruitment models – Recruitment Process Outsourcing

  12. Cont… • Employers are looking at a range of approaches to address the immediate gap in skills, including: • hiring temporary staff • increasing training budgets • recruiting workers from overseas. • With the country at full employment, Ireland must look to its network of citizens located throughout the world and encourage them to return (construction-brexit-housing-crisis, 2019).

  13. Cont… • Although the gender gap is extreme in construction, 1 in every 10 construction workers is female, there is growing optimism in that number increasing drastically in 2019 (CIF, 2019). • However retention of female workers in construction is still an issue because of factors such as lack of flexibility in working hours for parents cited as the main reason(CIF, 2019).

  14. Cont… • Key issues facing the construction industry include: • Skills shortages remain prevalent • Employees under pressure • Matching salary expectations for ‘in demand’ employees • Unrealistic salary expectations are highlighted by more than 50% of employers as a major issue when recruiting. • The Irish government has forecast that wage inflation will accelerate to 3 per cent this year from 2.4 per cent in 2018. • Addressing the gender gap – attracting more women into construction • Candidate loyalty - ‘job hopping’

  15. Disciplines required in the Construction industry in Ireland and how companies are finding them both locally and internationally. • Close to 120,000 construction workers are now required in order to meet targets outlined in the National Planning Framework (NPF). • There is growing demand for Project Managers, Quantity Surveyors, and Engineers as developers build more commercial and residential property . • Companies in Ireland are bringing people in from Europe, from Poland and Romania (demand-for-skills-in-construction-to-2020, 2017) with mixed results. • They’re also bringing Irish people back from Canada, Australia and the Middle East but that pipeline has now dried up. • So they have to look outside the EU, looking at relevant candidates in South Africa, the Philippines, New Zealand and Malaysia.

  16. Cont… • The top 4 disciplines leading the Irish construction market are: Quantity Surveying Engineering • Civil / structural engineers, design & site. Technology • 3D modelling augmented and virtual reality, BIM(building information modelling) adoption and other disruptive technologies are changing how the industry operates. Administration • As construction companies grow, their administration needs will grow with them. Whether in HR, office management or IT support, Irish companies value industry-specific experience.

  17. How long the skills shortage will last • People have been hired at a rate of about 1,000 a month into the sector over the last 4 years. • More than 220,000 workers were employed in Ireland’s construction sector during the Celtic Tiger years, a figure that fell by more than 150,000 during the recession. • Currently there are about 134,000 people now employed in the sector. • At the current rate of employment – it will take 10+ years to meet the demand??

  18. Conclusion • The future is bright for the Irish construction industry in 2019. • Salaries to increase with companies now offering enticing benefits packages to secure the best talent in a very competitive market. • Companies & Government must act quickly to improve their hiring processes and facilitate the employment of non EU nationals for critical skills in the construction industry. • A failure to attract people into the industry, both onsite and offsite, will see labor costs increase and eat away the available capital for investment in vital infrastructure.

  19. Thank you – barry@yala.ie .

  20. References 2019 OUTLOOK: IRISH CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY. (2019, December 17). Retrieved from sonasrecruitment: https://www.sonasrecruitment.com/news/2019-outlook-irish-construction-industry/ Burke-Kennedy, E. (2018, November 21). oecd-warns-of-another-boom-and-bust-cycle-in-irish-economy. Retrieved from irishtimes: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/oecd-warns-of-another-boom-and-bust-cycle-in-irish-economy-1.3705684 construction-brexit-housing-crisis. (2019, March 9). Retrieved from thejournal: https://www.thejournal.ie/construction-brexit-housing-crisis-4524909-Mar2019/ demand-for-skills-in-construction-to-2020. (2017, 1 13). Retrieved from irishbuildingmagazine: https://www.irishbuildingmagazine.ie/2017/01/13/demand-for-skills-in-construction-to-2020/ dramatic-increase-in-supply-of-civil-and-building-engineers-needed-to-meet-countrys-needs-report. (2019, March 6). Retrieved from engineersjournal: http://www.engineersjournal.ie/2019/03/06/dramatic-increase-in-supply-of-civil-and-building-engineers-needed-to-meet-countrys-needs-report/

  21. References Geary, A. (2019, March 9). recruitment-and-hiring-trends-to-watch-for-2019. Retrieved from independent: https://www.independent.ie/business/jobs/independent-jobs/recruitment-and-hiring-trends-to-watch-for-2019-37641903.html Lyons, H. (2013). ‘An Evaluation of the bubble & bust cycle of the Irish property market. women-working-in-construction-would-recommend-similar-career-to-younger-generation-as-industry-beginning-to-see-great-change. (2019). Retrieved from independent: https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/women-working-in-construction-would-recommend-similar-career-to-younger-generation-as-industry-beginning-to-see-great-change-37888698.html

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