The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is anticipating an 11% decline in the size of the construction workforce by 2021, as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, with another four years until it reaches the size it was in 2019.

The figures, from the CITB’s preliminary Construction Skills
Network forecasts, released as part of its Strategic Plan for 2021-25, show
that there were 2.7m people working in construction in 2019. That number is
expected to fall to 2.4m by next year, before rising again to 2.7m by 2025.

However, the CITB warned that the outlook was uncertain and
that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and self-employed Income Protection
Scheme meant that it was unclear how many people were still working in the
sector.

As part of its Strategic Plan, the CITB set out how it
planned to spend a total of £793m on training over 2021-25, working with
employers, governments, training and education partners, and other industry
bodies to train the workers the sector requires.

It said it expected companies to face increased debt and
reduced and uncertain income, along with greater restrictions, meaning that output
and employment would take longer than usual to return to pre-recession levels.

Meanwhile, digital technology and the increasing impact of
manufacturing on construction would “continually alter” the skills needed, it
predicted.

In the short term, the CITB expects employers to lack the confidence to make significant skills investments such as in apprenticeships or upskilling their workforces.

Among the ways in which the levy will be invested across
Britain are: 

• 28,000 taster experiences of construction and in Go Construct to help potential new entrants understand the opportunities in construction and how to access them
• Onsite experience for 19,000 people to prepare them to start work in construction through onsite hubs   
• The creation of new pathway between further education and employment available to 8,000 learners, including 1,600 apprenticeship starts as well as more learners starting jobs in construction
• A planned increase in the share of apprentices completing their programmes from 60% to 70% through allocating £110m to support learners and employers on top of grant support 
• Help for employers to invest in training to rebuild after the pandemic but increasingly to modernise and raise productivity through the Grants Scheme and other funding. This will see over £500m (77% of levy) of funding to employers 
• Support employers to modernise by identifying the key competencies required, including those that support digitalisation.                             

Sarah Beale, CITB chief executive, said: “The recovery
presents construction with big challenges but also major opportunities to do things
differently and bring a wider range of new workers into the industry. 
 

“Our strategic plan will support employers to realise these
opportunities by helping fix the system that brings people into work and
supporting them to do the training they need. 

“We will focus on a small number of areas such as providing
new entrants with information and experiences, creating a new pathway from further
education into apprenticeships and a job, and boosting the numbers of
apprentices completing their programmes. 

“We will also help employers to train by addressing gaps in
provision, making training accessible and targeting funding where it’s needed,
including through the Grants Scheme. 

“Over time, a greater share of this will support employers
to modernise and raise productivity.”