9:00am Monday 8th February 2010
By Tim Saunders
MORE than 210,000 people claiming Jobseekers Allowance are seeking work in the construction industry, according to government statistics.
Yet JobCentre Plus has just 302 jobs in this sector across the whole country.
Bridget Boreham from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) acknowledged that there is great competition in the construction industry.
She said: “The key for construction and the government is to keep hold of our unemployed workers, and those coming into the industry, during the recession.
“If we don’t we will face the same skills shortages we had from the last recession and that will hinder the industry’s ability to respond to the upturn of the economy.”
She added: “We have seen an increase in the last 12 months of eight per cent in our own membership as professional qualifications increasingly become a ‘must have’ to stand out from the crowd. We have also seen a significant increase in female applications, and in our experience these trends will continue as the industry recovers.”
Research has shown that those with professional qualifications in this industry have a nine per cent increase in the probability of being employed while they stand to gain £152,000 in additional earnings, over the course of their career.
© Copyright 2001-2010 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.businessdorset.co.uk