News Release Page Title

1 June 2005

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ADDS 20,000 JOBS IN EIGHT YEARS

An additional 20,000 jobs have been created by the construction industry here in the last eight years.

The sector is also more important in the Northern Ireland (NI) economy than in any other UK region, according to a report published today by the Northern Ireland Skills Task Force (NSTF).

It details the supply of and demand for, various construction skills to the year 2007 and concludes that, in the main, demand and supply are in balance. It also examines other issues, such as workers going to Great Britain (GB) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI), the increase in prefabrication and the trend towards multi-skilling.

Among the main findings of the report are:

- The construction industry has been the star performer in the NI economy, `adding over 20,000 jobs in the past eight years and accounting for a relatively larger share of the economy than in any other of the 12 UK regions – 7.4% of Gross Value Added against 5.8% in the rest of the UK.

- The overall job vacancy rate was 2%, with plastering having the highest rate at 10%. Relative to priority skills sectors it is above the rate for the IT sector at 0.2% and mechanical engineering at 1%, but below that of the electronic industry at 4%.

- In the 12 months preceding the survey, a total of 105 firms reported losing staff to competitor firms. Of those firms, 88% reported having lost personnel to other NI firms, 10% to GB firms and 17% to ROI firms. This indicates that most of the competition for labour resources is in the local industry.

- Analysing the data by occupational grouping, a particularly high proportion of firms, some 16%, lost joiners in the course of the year, with 20% of affected firms reporting the loss of workers to ROI competitors. Similarly, 9% of respondents reported losing electricians and bricklayers, with 25% of the firms losing out to ROI based companies.

Welcoming the report, Mr Bill McGinnis, Chairman of the NSTF, said: "The evidence that the construction industry is on a competitive high will help attract younger people to a sector which is offering excellent pay scales and employment opportunities. The Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland will further enhance employment opportunities and the NSTF Report supplies the vital information to drive it forward over the next 10 years."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

  1. The Department for Employment and Learning, through the NSTF, conducts a programme of skills monitoring, forecasting and research. The Priority Skills Unit at ERINI was established by the Department to provide detailed analysis of the current and future supply/demand balance for skills in priority areas (defined as those areas where a shortage of skills could act as a constraint to the growth of the NI economy, which are growing and which require substantial training times to produce the necessary skilled workers).

  2. This study examines the supply of and demand for, various categories of construction workers during the period 2003 to 2007.

  3. The report also examines the implications for the industry of such issues as the rise in prefabricated off-site building techniques, the need for a more multi-skilled approach to learning, the rise in self employment and implications for training.

  4. It should not be confused with the Draft Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland 2005-2015. The NSTF Report was prepared before publication of that Strategy, the forecast period in this report runs to 2007 and in any event the Investment Strategy has yet to be finalised in detail.

  5. Copies of the Report "A Study of The Northern Ireland Labour Market for Construction Skills" are available from Research and Evaluation Branch, Department for Employment and Learning, Adelaide House, 39-49 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8FD, Tel: 028 9025 7686.

  6. Media enquiries to the Department for Employment and Learning’s Press Office on 028 9025 7790.

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