The number of construction jobs being advertised rose by 5 per cent in February, a report out this week has revealed.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and data analyst Lightcast’s Labour Market Tracker showed more than 117,000 roles were touted in the industry last month.
This was 13 per cent higher than in December as construction companies looked to hire despite some gloomy statistics for the sector.
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics, released last week, showed construction output fell by 0.2 per cent in January as winter weather slowed work.
Construction data provider Glenigan’s latest data for February, released today, showed a 32 per cent year-on-year fall in project starts.
And the Federation of Master Builders’ latest State of Trade Survey revealed that the volume of enquiries received by SMEs in the sector plummeted by almost 25 per cent in the final quarter of last year.
But the REC said most construction roles were more in demand in February than in January.
The volume of adverts for rail construction and maintenance operatives in particular grew by a fifth last month, according to the REC. This represented the third-highest rise across all industries, behind gardeners and teachers.
Stonemasons and related trades came in fourth, with plasterers also making the top 10.
Carpenters and joiners, painters and decorators, bricklayers, electricians, and roofers all saw increases of at least 7 per cent in the volume of job postings last month.
Civil engineers and crane drivers were among a handful of construction-related professions to see minor falls in adverts for positions.
REC chief executive Neil Carberry said the “significant” increase in overall construction job adverts was “notable given recent concerns about the strength of this bellwether sector”.
Rebecca Larkin, head of construction research at the Construction Products Association, said the pick-up in postings could be caused by two factors.
She told Construction News that the likes of plasterers and finishers could be in demand for office refurbishments, which “have been strong over the past 12 months and continue to benefit from increasing awareness of the minimum energy efficiency standards that will be required for commercial properties over the next five years”.
Larkin added: “There’s also likely to be an element of preparedness and getting ahead of the curve in other areas, with the increase in rail-related job postings clearly influenced by High Speed 2 in expectation of the work progressing from civil work to track laying and signalling packages.”
Another positive indicator came from Henry Pitman, non-executive chairman of construction skills specialist Hercules Site Services.
He told shareholders on Monday (17 March) that the firm’s labour-supply business had experienced “record levels of demand and delivery”.
Pitman cited a 35 per cent increase in the average number of operatives deployed in the year to 30 September 2024.
Hercules chief executive Brusk Korkmaz said it was “no surprise” to see the volume of construction job postings rise since Christmas.
“The UK continues to face a skills shortage as the country seeks to upgrade its infrastructure,” he told CN.
“We would urge the industry to look at engaging with local and regional workforces while deploying technology solutions to help find the right candidates for these jobs.”
The latest data in the CN Intelligence centre shows that the number of men employed in the construction industry rose by 2 per cent in the three months to 1 December 2024.
Female employment in construction grew by 2.9 per cent over the same period.
However, the REC said the number of active job postings in February across all parts of the economy was the same as the previous month at 1.6 million.
Carberry said: “Growing stability of demand will reassure recruiters and policymakers given the challenging outlook for business on National Insurance hikes, wage increases, global political shifts and uncertainty about the future impact of the Employment Rights Bill.”
He added that the government’s spring statement due on 26 March, must lay out “a clear long-term growth strategy to unlock more of the latent demand for hiring and investment that we believe is out there”.
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Greg Pitcher