Could building services save the ‘lost generation’?

The building services sector could play a major role in addressing the growing problem of youth unemployment, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA).

A recent government report highlighted the crisis caused by more than a million young people lacking jobs or training, but the Association believes they could provide the industry with much needed digital and practical skills.

Former cabinet minister Alan Milburn, who authored the report into Neets (16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training), said that rescuing this ‘lost generation’ was “more than an economic crisis – it is a moral one”.

His report, commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions, found that six in 10 Neets have never had a job, but that 84% do want to work or be in training but are “finding the door of opportunity closed”.

Entry-level jobs have sharply declined by around 1.6 million over the past 20 years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which added that apprenticeship starts among young people have fallen by 35% since 2017.

This costs the country £125bn every year in lost economic potential which is more than we spend on education.

Advantage
At the same time, BESA published an in-depth study of the building engineering sector’s skills challenges which highlighted several areas where the industry could take advantage of this ready-made pool of labour – helping to solve two problems at once.

“Our industry has a growing problem with adopting new and emerging technologies, but Neets are a fully digital generation – they have never known anything else,” said director of competence and compliance Jill Nicholls. “So, let’s solve our problem by harnessing all that under-exploited potential.”

The Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) study carried out for BESA by Pye Tait Consulting found that the rising use of heat pumps, smart building systems, and energy‑efficient retrofit solutions are radically reshaping the building services engineering (BSE) skills landscape, alongside low carbon materials and sustainable design practices.

It also pointed to a lack of digital ‘literacy’ as a skills problem for many employers along with an ageing workforce struggling to keep up to date. This situation is further exacerbated by competition from other (often more glamorous) sectors and a “lack of awareness” of BSE and its opportunities as powerful reasons for failure to attract enough candidates for skilled roles.

“However, Neets do not see our sector as a destination for them – they don’t see the opportunities and the rewards – and there are thousands of employers who are struggling to invest for the long-term in capturing their talent. Now is the time to bring these two groups together,” said Nicholls.

The LMI study showed that firms are struggling to recruit across most roles but 75% say the biggest issue is recruiting for apprentices and trainee positions. Strongest demand is expected to be for labourers (37%), apprentices (33%) and trainees (30%) in the next few years – and many report problems accessing suitable training courses to help them develop a future workforce.

Most respondents reported a good level of skills in so-called ‘traditional’ areas but find it hard to recruit people capable of working with emerging disciplines like building controls, energy systems, heat pumps, ductwork and ventilation – all of which are becoming increasingly important.

Employers told the survey that there needed to be greater and more relevant training provision and better promotion of the sector with trade bodies expected to lead these efforts. Over the next three years, the employers predicted further growth in deployment of heat pumps and smart heat networks. After that, the rise of AI-driven design and increasingly ‘smart’ and energy efficient technologies are expected to further reshape job roles.

Anticipated
Companies also expect the total workforce to expand by 11% in the next five years with installation and maintenance roles standing out as the area of greatest anticipated growth due to technology changes.

“How can we keep up with that rate of growth without a whole new generation of talent?” asked Nicholls. “We hear so much about the negative aspects of young people’s engagement with the digital world but there are also huge benefits yet to be harnessed – and this could also be transformational for mental health and social cohesion.

“A concerted campaign to promote opportunities for young people in this, and other economically and socially critical sectors, is needed now to solve two of the UK’s most pressing problems: Shortage of opportunities for Neets and looming skills shortages for built environment employers,” she added.

BESA’s Labour Market Intelligence report is available for download here.

Read Jill Nicholls’ blog on the wider social and business implications of this issue here.