A report conducted by the Construction Industry Training Board identified there would be 224,000
additional construction workers needed by 2027. This would only meet current expectations of
demand and is a 25% growth in numbers.

There is still a lack of talent entering the construction industry and even with the work in the FE
sector and the changes to the apprenticeship levy, construction business growth is still being held
back by a lack of qualified and reliable staff.

The construction industry was calling on the government via the Migration Advisory Committee to
add certain roles to the Skills Worker Visa shortages list, and this included bricklayers and masons as
the vacancy rates have soared over the last couple of years.

I don’t know if you have visited this list recently but I was shocked to find that we have dancers,
musicians and artists on this list, I appreciate the arts are a big part of the UK economy, but to have
those job titles above construction workers really shocked me.
Apparently, the Government has told the Migration Advisory Committee to pause the work going on
until further notice! The reason given is the Home Office is waiting on the government for
clarification on the Migration Policy.

Immigration figures to June 2022 currently sit at the highest on record, this is being attributed to
humanitarian schemes set up for people fleeing Hong Kong and Ukraine. In January 2022 The Mayor
of London Sadiq Khan called on the Government to issue temporary visas to foreign construction
workers as vacancies were running at a 20-year high.

If you need a recruiter who understands this industry and has hands on experience working in the
sector get in touch with @Liam Paton today