FMB NEWS
POLICY MAKERS, COLLEGES AND TRAINING PROVIDERS NEED TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT CAREERS IN CONSTRUCTION, SAYS FEDERATION OF MASTER BUILDERS REGIONAL DIRECTOR GAVIN MCGUIRE… Helping the next generation to prosper
We appreciate the growing need for more people to come and work with us in construction. But as we look locally and across the UK, construction courses have too many young people starting courses and leaving it before completion. We are burning through so many potential future colleagues and losing them to other industries. Can we pivot slightly and realign what we do to be more successful? It can be easy to point the finger at a generation of young people who claim they don’t want to learn or work. How wrong those stereotypes are. I reflected on my own example. Grammar school-educated with reasonable academic grades, but work-and-life-ready when I left? Definitely not. Did I know at 16 or 18 what my career path would look like and train for it? Again, that was a journey and in my early 50s, still on it. Too often young people arrive in this industry believing they ‘weren’t academic enough’ for somewhere else. That they’ve defaulted to construction because that’s about all they can achieve. Not a great start with that mindset reinforced. We need to think and act differently; we need policymakers, colleges and training providers to do so as well if we are to have a skilled and competent workforce. FMB leads the way in innovative training Every day, I speak to FMB members, small family firms and tradespeople in construction who are phenomenal thinkers and practical problem-solvers; skills and talents that are not achieved through academic qualifications. Are we helping them be site- and work- ready? Often a common issue we hear is that individuals drop out as they don’t enjoy what they are doing or perhaps are not site-ready to work? Is all of that at the feet
FMB has established a pilot programme in London, The Build Academy, which gives young people site-ready skills.
“Too often young people arrive in this industry believing they ‘weren’t academic enough’ for somewhere else.”
of the young person? Or could we look at the system to help mentor them to feel more settled and able. FMB leads the way in innovative training. I’ve watched a pilot programme FMB has established in London with real interest. The Build Academy is a unique project that gives young people site-ready skills. Students learn from a programme put together by FMB members, meaning they have the right skills to arrive as an apprentice and make an impact from day one. The project is a collaboration between FMB, Shooters Hill SIXTH FORM COLLEGE and the CITB. Students come from a range of different backgrounds, including students with special education needs.
The aim of the programme is to place our 20 students into full-time employment as apprentices with SME builders. The first year of this project is producing fantastic results. The personal interest and life skills help are allowing these young people to blossom and laying a strong foundation for a successful apprenticeship. Here in NI, FMB has lobbied hard to CITB and the Department of Economy for a foundation or bootcamp training programme to help young people find their passion and the trade they enjoy, while helping them train and develop life skills which will be invaluable. We continue to press the need for this and seeing pilots prosper in other regions makes the argument even stronger.
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