News
Recovery on the Horizon for the Northern Ireland Construction Industry
After a difficult five years, with the recession biting hard for Northern Ireland construction employers, the future for construction in the Province is finally looking brighter. Private housing, infrastructure and industrial work are all expected to help push the sector towards growth and around 1,280 new construction workers will be needed yearly over the next five years in Northern Ireland, according to the Construction Skills Network (CSN) report, published today by ConstructionSkills.
Over the next five years, performance across the NI construction industry is expected to show:
• Overall annual average output growth of 2.3%, with new work expected to fare better than the repair and maintenance sector. However, NI has suffered one of the severest falls in output in recent years, so activity will be rising from a low base.
• The industrial sector is expected to see annual average growth of 4%. The private housing sector is expected to be the second strongest at 3.9% annual average, thanks to stabilising house prices, improving economic conditions, easing of credit restrictions and improving confidence.
• Infrastructure growth will be in the region of 2.7% a year on average, driven in particular by roads projects, such as upgrades to the A2, A5 and A6.
• Construction employment to start rising again from 2014, with an annual average employment growth rate of 1.1% predicted. The annual recruitment requirement of 1,280 will include demand for bricklayers, plasterers, painters & decorators, construction managers and professionals & technical staff.
CITB-ConstructionSkills NI is calling for sustained investment in longer-term infrastructure and industrial projects to secure future growth.
Barry Neilson, Chief Executive of CITB-ConstructionSkills NI, said, “Clarity and certainty of future projects is an important element of a sustained recovery. It gives employers the confidence to train and to plan.”
“The CSN report shows that the economy is turning the corner and the NI construction industry will benefit from that. But growth needs to be sustainable; underpinned by long-term infrastructure projects and continued investment. The assurance that major infrastructure projects in the pipeline go ahead as planned would be most welcomed and measures must be taken now to ensure growth is sustained over the long-term.”
“It is essential that CITB-ConstructionSkills NI continues to support the industry in developing the highly skilled workers it needs to meet the immediate challenges and to prepare for the future. We have been working with key industry partners to ensure we maintain a skilled and qualified workforce that is ready to take advantage of potential new investment opportunities. We have also addressed skills development in areas such as heritage and sustainable construction methods in order to assist with openings that may arise in these sectors.”
“We are looking to the future with confidence. Since the start of the recession, construction has lost significant numbers of skilled workers and we will continue to work closely with the industry to ensure it has the right skills and qualifications needed to deliver forecasted output”.
For more information on the CSN and to read the full report, click here.