Skills shortages pushing up wage bills for UK construction businesses?
New research suggests that pay increases in the construction industry are running at three times the national average of 2%.
The latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors also warned that skills shortages are putting at risk some of the Government’s biggest housing and infrastructure programmes. The RICS UK Construction Market Survey showed that 61% of construction professionals have reported sharp wage rises in the sector.
Labour shortages were reported by 66% of construction professionals to be the most significant barrier to growth in the last quarter of 2015, with between 60% and 62% of survey respondents having difficulty finding competent bricklayers and quantity surveyors.
RICS Chief Economist, Simon Rubinsohn said: “While workloads are still growing at a relatively healthy pace, labour shortages in the construction sector are causing delays at different stages in the development process and leading to significant problems with project planning.”
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