UK construction industry faces significant skills shortage, market survey reveals

Advanced hardware and software employee management systems are starting to become mission-critical solutions for companies in the construction sector that struggle to manage their skilled employees in a proficient manner.

Managing one’s employees in a very clear, efficient and productive manner is particularly important nowadays, as the construction industry is facing significant skills shortages, according to the latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Construction Market Survey (Q2 2014).

54% of people participating in the survey said that there are insufficient numbers of quantity surveyors available to meet workloads, while 59% of respondents have reported shortages of bricklayers and 51% a shortage of managerial workers.

Across the whole of the UK, a net balance of 60% of respondents expect employment to rise over the next 12 months.

“The UK construction market is mirroring the natural consequence of a rise in demand after five subdued years,” said Alan Muse, RICS Director of Built Environment. “The upsurge in housing demand is creating pressure across an industry which failed to invest in attracting new talent or in the training of existing employees at the height of the economic downturn and this in turn is creating similar effects among material supply.

“The good news is that there is reason for optimism, with workloads, profits and employment all forecast to deliver growth over the next 12 months and it is now the responsibility of industry to invest in training and technology to ensure it capitalises on these opportunities.”

Time & Attendance UK has an extensive experience in implementing extensive time and attendance systems for a wide variety of companies actively involved in different sectors, including here the construction segment.

We offer a complete proximity card time and attendance system that includes European Working Time Directive checking and reporting, Access Control, Fire Roll Call, and also makes good use of mobile and wireless technology so that your employee clocking and activity information can be accessed from anywhere.

Moreover, our specific position within this market segment, as well as proven experience in the field enables us to thoroughly customize our systems in order to meet all of your requirements, whether you’re an enterprise customer with multiple sites or a smaller business.

Proximity smart card technology allows your employees to quickly clock in and out, with the time and attendance software accurately recording attendances.

Furthermore, our all-in-one, Smart Card Time & Attendance recording workstation incorporates such features as job booking, job costing, labour hours analysis and security management.

If you want to find out more about the range of affordable, reliable solutions provided by Time & Attendance UK, just contact our dedicated product team, they’ll be more than happy to answer any question you might have.