# Housing for All : Where are we going to get 27,500 extra construction workers?



## Brendan Burgess (6 Sep 2021)

From Executive Summary (PDF page 10)

The pathway to more houses requires more people to build them.
An estimated 40,000 workers are involved in delivering 20,000 homes per annum. 
This will need to increase by a further 27,500 workers to hit the target of 33,000 homes per annum.
It will need to rise further again to eliminate the existing housing stock deficit. 
This will happen through the attraction and retention of those with the necessary pre-existing
skills and the provision of new training opportunities for those interested in a career in the construction sector. 
The industry will be supported in returning existing workers to full employment and proactive engagement
with international labour where supply is unavailable locally.
 We will also further ramp up education and training opportunities, including commitments regarding programmes 
and apprenticeships and delivery of new courses.


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## Brendan Burgess (6 Sep 2021)

From the Page 24 of Pathway 3  Increasing Housing Supply


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## Brendan Burgess (6 Sep 2021)

3.5 Increase Labour and Sectoral Capacity

Delivering on the ambition set out in _Housing for All _will require a vibrant and innovative construction sector that supports the development of its existing workforce, including through lifelong learning, and presents an attractive and sustainable career for those preparing to enter the labour force.

The _Building Innovation Report15 _undertaken by the Construction Sector Group identifies a series of high impact actions to be undertaken to increase innovation and output in the sector in order to deliver the economic and social infrastructure that this country needs. More than ever, Ireland needs a competitive, dynamic, and sustainable construction sector that can deliver high quality physical infrastructure for all our citizens.

Following the major reversals associated with the financial crisis, the industry experienced a steady and determined improvement between 2014 and 2019. Construction sector employment and investment picked up over this period,
 with employment growing from just over 100,000 whole time equivalent workers in 2014, to almost 150,000 at the end of 2019. The Covid pandemic has since intervened and caused major disruption to the sector. A critical
issue for the sector is to seek to re- establish the workforce gains made pre-pandemic to the greatest extent possible, as there are significant time- lags in providing the necessary skills to prospective employees new to the sector. For example, training of a craft apprentice can take up to four years, while architecture courses are five years’ duration, followed by two years in professional practice to achieve professional registration.

To deliver an average of 33,000 houses and apartments (and beyond) will require an expansion of the current
workforce. This will happen through the attraction and retention of those with the necessary pre-existing skills and the provision of new training opportunities for those interested in a career in the construction sector. This will require a plan to support the industry in returning existing workers to full employment and proactive engagement with international labour where supply 
is unavailable locally. It will also require further ramp-up in education and training opportunities, including commitment regarding programmes and apprenticeships and delivery of new courses.

The Action Plan on Apprenticeship 2021-25 contains an ambitious commitment to increase apprenticeship registrations to 10,000 per annum, almost double the 2020 intake. There are now 60 different apprenticeship 
types (with a further 18 in development) and they extend well beyond the construction sector or traditional craft trades. Working with employers in the construction sector to expand their employment of apprentices will be critical to a medium term, sustainable approach to the future availability of necessary skills.

The 2020 _Building Future Skills _Report16 sets out Ireland’s built environment skills demand until 2030; 50 percent of the key roles are mapped to apprentice trades. However, it is intended that the forecasts in this report will be revised to take account of two forthcoming studies commissioned by the _Expert Group on Future Skills Needs_;

• Labour Demand Estimates for Ireland’s National Housing Targets, 2021-2030, and

• Skills to Enable the Low Carbon Economy to 2030.

 The forthcoming _Labour Demand Estimates for Ireland’s National Housing Targets, 2021-2030 _Report estimates that total labour demand from housing construction will need to rise from approximately 40,000 full-time equivalent workers at present, to 67,500 workers by the middle of the decade, to achieve an annual average of 33,000 homes over the decade.

As the backlog of housing output has built up, a further increase, possibly up to 80,000 workers may be necessary. The Report also estimates the labour demand across the key occupations for the Built Environment, from architects 
to construction operatives. For example, it is suggested that approximately 2,500 additional carpenters will need to be recruited or trained in total in order to reach the target of 33,000 homes per annum.

The forthcoming report on the _Skills to Enable the Low Carbon Economy to 2030 _will also identify further workforce requirements in relation to the Climate Action Plan’s retrofit targets and the construction of renewable energy projects.

_Building Future Skills _forecasts will be revised to take account of the subsequent forecasts to achieve housing targets and the transition to a low  carbon economy. Meanwhile education and training output will be aligned with these requirements.

The DFHERIS and its agency, Solas, will deliver an integrated education and training sector response to these skills forecasts, in particular through the forthcoming Solas ‘Strategy for Construction Services’. The DETE will also make any necessary changes in the employment permit system in order to increase the number of construction skilled workers required to expand the supply of housing.

In addition to the scale of labour across the range of activities associated with delivering housing, support services for professionals including insurance, etc., will need to be considered to ensure adequate capacity.

All of the above initiatives to address the supply of skills are predicated on employers and the construction industry generally continuing to review the attractiveness of its career offering to current and prospective employees, promoting careers in the construction sector and partnering with education and training providers to provide upskilling and reskilling through professional bodies, Skillnet Ireland, apprenticeships and further and higher education and training providers.

The above will be complemented by the actions to be delivered to drive economic sustainability and reduce construction costs over the longer term, detailed in Chapter Five, section 5.3.1.


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## Brendan Burgess (6 Sep 2021)

This all seems like wishful thinking to me? 

It is important to recognise the reality because a plan based on unreality has no chance of success. 

We will have to make choices with the limited supply of construction workers available. 

Do we build new houses or supply broadband to everyone in the country? 
Do we build new houses or retrofit old houses for energy purposes? 
Do we build hospitals or new houses? 

Tough choices have to be made.


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## joe sod (6 Sep 2021)

The construction industry have raised this very point continuously, that the workers do not exist anywhere now to build these houses, it's a global phenomenon, it's all over Europe and the US and everyone seems to want to build more houses at the same time.
The construction workforce we had are gone to uk Canada and Australia, 
"I'm over here, oh mother dear, and I'm never coming back"
Many more left to work in other jobs also not returning.
It's not a money issue but a lifestyle one, it's just not a desirable career for young guys now, maybe a radical overhaul of work practices to make it more appealing, why should flexible working hours only apply to office workers.
With all the new flexibility and WFH practices in place it has made working in construction even for skilled engineers alot less desirable, the unintended consequences are coming home to roost


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## Brendan Burgess (6 Sep 2021)

Attracting new construction workers will not be easy.

Where will a new carpenter from Poland live?

RTE yesterday interviewed construction workers in Sydney and asked them what would it take to come home.

They were not enthusiastic.

They won't be able to find somewhere to rent.
The banks will not give them a mortgage.
The car insurance will be exorbitant.

But primarily they were enjoying the craic and very high wages in Sydney.

They could come home for the construction boom in Ireland only to find themselves discarded after three or four years in the next construction bust. 

Brendan


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## Thirsty (6 Sep 2021)

joe sod said:


> It's not a money issue but a lifestyle one, it's just not a desirable career for young guys now, maybe a radical overhaul of work practices to make it more appealing, why should flexible working hours only apply to office workers.


100% agree re flexible work practices; we also need to recognise that its time to take steps to move the construction industry towards more diversity.


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## Brendan Burgess (6 Sep 2021)

Throwing €4 billion a year at the industry hoping that more houses will be built, will just push up prices if the workers are not there. 

I don't know the solution.  But this seems to me to be the biggest constraint. 

I think it's planned that the local authorities would build new houses with direct labour. It's hard to see them competing with the private companies. 

Brendan


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## joe sod (6 Sep 2021)

Thirsty said:


> 100% agree re flexible work practices; we also need to recognise that its time to take steps to move the construction industry towards more diversity.


I doubt the industry itself is discriminatory, in fact generally it is one of the easiest jobs to get if you are an immigrant, that's why the Irish were traditionally over represented in construction from London to new York even during the old days when there was a lot of discrimination in other jobs.
However maybe the "macho" culture etc is a factor alright.
However the antiquated working practices like having to be on site very early in the morning, why can't you chose to start at 10am and work to 6pm for example ?
Also the "builders holidays" where everyone has to take 2 weeks holidays at same time in August


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## Thirsty (6 Sep 2021)

joe sod said:


> doubt the industry itself is discriminatory


I would disagree, diversity encompasses more than nationality.

A so-called "macho culture" is in itself a form of discrimination.

100% agree re work practices and flexibility.


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## Brendan Burgess (6 Sep 2021)

If I get a job in Saudi, I will be offered accommodation with the job.

I think we might need to do that here to attract people here to build houses.

So maybe the first step should be to set aside some of the housing under the control of the local authorities for immigrant construction workers.   It takes the local authorities months to turn around a vacant home for a new letting. How about allocating these to immigrant construction workers for as long as they are working in the industry.  And allocate them in their current condition. As they are construction workers they can fix them up themselves. 

Then encourage the banks to relax some of their lending criteria for people working in construction.  They would not need to be working a full year.  Apprenticeships could be facilitated. 

Brendan


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## Purple (6 Sep 2021)

Where I work we have guys who are qualified plumbers, plasterers and carpenters. They got jobs here after the last crash. They money is about the same but they work indoors, they don't have to travel all over the city or country, they won't get killed or injured, they can take holidays whenever they want, they work in the same place with the same people every day and they will be able to stay in the same sector until they retire. Construction is hard and often unpleasant and the career can be short. 

A major issue attracting people into the sector is that there's a big problem with educational snobbery in this country. People would rather their children went to college and worked in an office. If your middle-class child does an apprenticeship then they are thick and you're a bad parent. It doesn't matter that they could earn more and develop into different roles, they get their hands dirty and that's to be looked down on. The result is that the calibre of the Irish born people working in construction can be lower than it should be. Once they are in SOLAS/FAS the standard of the training within the Trade Schools is low (at best) and way out of date. That's why the eastern European guys are generally much better. 

There's been multiple threads on the issue of how we build houses and the dysfunctionality of the sector, no point in re-hashing it here.
We are where we are and it's a really bad place to start if we want to fix the problem. It's very hard to unpick 40 years of cronyism, lobbying and gross ineptitude.


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## Thirsty (6 Sep 2021)

Purple said:


> People would rather their children went to college and worked in an office





Purple said:


> but they work indoors, they don't have to travel all over the city or country, they won't get killed or injured, they can take holidays whenever they want, they work in the same place with the same people every day and they will be able to stay in the same sector until they retire


hm... perhaps item 1 is linked to item 2?


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## Peanuts20 (6 Sep 2021)

Should we not be targetting the European migrant workforce in the UK to attract them over here?  

Another key issue, how do we ensure the quality of what we build is up to scratch as this will bring out all the chancers going. We don't need another Mica scandal in 2031. 

I do recall passing an apartment block in South Dublin in the Celtic Tiger era. I'm far from a building expert but even I could see it was shoddy and plaster covered a multiple of sins


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## Purple (6 Sep 2021)

Thirsty said:


> hm... perhaps item 1 is linked to item 2?


Partially but it's mainly down to snobbery. 
Someone with a degree in Greek and Roman studies will probably earn less than an electrician (unless they end up running the Central Bank) but Mommy will have a photo of them in their robe and hat to show the neighbours.


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## Thirsty (6 Sep 2021)

Purple said:


> Mommy will have a photo of them in their robe


And Daddy doesn't have the same photo?

In any event, I wouldn't encourage anyone into trades, for the very reasons cited here.

Reform the work practices, improve the culture, benefits etc., then it might be a better long term career.


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## Thirsty (6 Sep 2021)

Peanuts20 said:


> targetting the European migrant workforce in the UK to attract them over here


Or we could make the industry more welcoming to the other 51% of the population?


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## Marco 1972 (6 Sep 2021)

All the more reason to concentrate on identifying vacant and underused dwellings and getting them into use, a
 cant see how this plan will get off the ground to any practical extent without an influx of labour,  

at least with a lack of workers there is less chance of substandard houses being built to shoddy standards at inflated prices.

There was some talk of how people will afford rents when retired and the overlooked issue of people, very many of them into the future having no discretionary spending power as everything going towards mortgage repayments....


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## Shirazman (6 Sep 2021)

Thirsty said:


> Or we could make the industry more welcoming to the other 51% of the population?



You mean by gently suggesting to Simon and Leo that next time they should offer Zappone a job as a part-time brickie?


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## Pinoy adventure (6 Sep 2021)

Brendan Burgess said:


> If I get a job in Saudi, I will be offered accommodation with the job.
> 
> I think we might need to do that here to attract people here to build houses.
> 
> ...



You could be sharing your Accommodation with 15-30 other migrant workers in a lot of cases in the desert


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## Purple (7 Sep 2021)

Thirsty said:


> And Daddy doesn't have the same photo?


Possibly.


Thirsty said:


> In any event, I wouldn't encourage anyone into trades, for the very reasons cited here.


What, that it’s reasonably well paid but hard work? What we need are better paths to continuous learning and generally better trade schools. That would encourage more people in. 
It’s still better than an academic degree and a ‘career’ in retail. 


Thirsty said:


> Reform the work practices, improve the culture, benefits etc., then it might be a better long term career.


I think the very male dominated culture is a problem but that’s an issue with any area dominated by one gender.


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## Peanuts20 (7 Sep 2021)

Thirsty said:


> Or we could make the industry more welcoming to the other 51% of the population?


 And what do the 51% do once all the houses are built?. Yes, we may need plumbers and electiricians but would it not be better to import the block layers etc as we probably only need them for a defined period of time. I know that sounds quite cold but that is the nature of the building industry.


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## Purple (7 Sep 2021)

Peanuts20 said:


> And what do the 51% do once all the houses are built?. Yes, we may need plumbers and electiricians but would it not be better to import the block layers etc as we probably only need them for a defined period of time. I know that sounds quite cold but that is the nature of the building industry.


No, we'll need more for decades to come and there isn't a ready supply of them to import.


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