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You are here - Slower Growth and less workers needed for local construction industry Post Brexit

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Slower Growth and less workers needed for local construction industry Post Brexit

Results from an interim post-Brexit review of the Construction Skills Network forecasts indicate that Brexit will have a major negative influence on output growth, employment levels and the annual recruitment requirement for the Northern Ireland construction industry.
 
Forecasts published in January 2016 were positive and the performance of the construction industry over the 5-year forecast period showed and annual average growth of 3%. However the interim forecasts have reduced this figure to 1.4% due to a contraction in activity (with the exception of the private housing sector).

The impact of the EU referendum can be seen again in a drop in the employment forecasts. Employment is still expected to grow at a rate of 0.3% over the forecast period however this is a drop of 1.2% from January’s predictions with employment now expected to be 63,546 in 2021.
 
The annual recruitment requirement for 2017-2021 stands at 650 per year, down significantly from the 1,760 figures forecast in January 2016.
 
Barry Neilson, Chief Executive, CITB NI, said ‘Clearly the EU Referendum reflects increased uncertainty in the economy and investment and this has had an effect on the forecasts, however we do need to keep some perspective as the industry can still expect to see some growth in output e.g. private housing. Whilst output, employment and annual recruitment requirements are lower than forecast, we are still facing potential skills shortages in certain occupations such as bricklayers and roofers. On the professionals side we will see some demand for project managers and architects. CITB NI will continue to work with the industry to ensure that sufficient numbers of people are trained to meet the demand and that those already working in the industry have the right skills and qualifications to deliver upcoming construction projects’.
 


About the Research

The Construction Skills Network (CSN) report, led by ConstructionSkills, is a major piece of labour market research and the leading source of data for the construction sector, giving the industry and its stakeholders the information it needs to plan for the next five years. The published data reflects employment and output trends across the UK and it’s nations and regions, with significant input from construction employers and stakeholders.