Shortage of skilled tradespeople a ‘hard nut to crack’
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Skills shortages and the cost of recruiting skilled labour is the most common concern among tradespeople, according to a new survey.
Up to 29% of respondents to an Onlinetradesmen.ie survey — which included builders, plumbers, electricians and landscapers — cited the shortage of skilled labour as the biggest obstacle to their operations and growth.
“The issue is they're there at the moment and the cost of recruiting them and hiring them is very expensive as well,” said Ted Laverty, CEO of Onlinetradesmen.ie. “It's probably well known that there is an imbalance between supply and demand across the country, whether it's home improvements or construction in general, so really no surprise that it is number one. It's a hard nut to crack.”
Last year saw just over 8,700 new apprentice registrations — well up on previous years — while the number of apprentice programmes has also grown. However, Mr Laverty said that it was unclear how much this would benefit the construction industry.
“There are apprentices for accountants, book-keepers, things like that probably in the mix as well,” he said. “We've come off a very low base in terms of single figures across the country over the last number of years entering construction-related apprenticeships.”
He also pointed out that new apprentices will not help to address the industry's skills shortage until well into the future, adding that it takes four years for upskilled people to come out as qualified.
“Really we're lagging behind and it's going to take a little while before it gets sorted out. The bigger opportunity is probably attracting people into the construction sector, whether through apprenticeships or some other way of actually getting them involved.”
Mr Laverty suggested changes could be made to the way apprenticeships work so that people were able to pick up skills sooner, and begin to contribute at an earlier stage. He also pointed out that the low rate of pay in the early stages of the process may be off-putting to some.
With housing a significant issue in the General Election campaign as all parties promise to ramp up the number of homes being built each year, he questioned whether the capacity is there to build at a scale that is much bigger than what is currently being done.
“I think we're hitting just over 30,000 now, and we can see that it's kind of creaking in terms of 30% of people have said skills shortages are an issue in the sector. I can't see right now how we're going to reach more than 35,000 to 40,000 units — so I would challenge that."
Aside from skills shortages, 21% of respondents to the Onlinetradesmen survey said rising costs for materials and tools was a top concern. The administrative and compliance burden was noted as a key challenge by 18% of respondents.