Applicant deficit echoes skills shortage in construction

Over the past 12 months, 187,987 construction roles were posted on CV-Library, compared to 115,290 during the same period the previous year – suggesting an additional 72,697 jobs in the sector.

While there has also been a 37.2% increase in the number of candidates applying for roles in the sector, this falls significantly behind industry job growth, resulting in an overall deficit of 14.5% in terms of the number of applicants per role.

The figures will raise concern for some employers, as it suggests that businesses may have less choice during the selection process. Whilst a construction company could expect to receive an average of 15.9 applications per role in May 2014, data for May 2015 shows that this number has declined to 13.6.

CV-Library Managing Director Lee Biggins explains:

Our latest data demonstrates that businesses need to be savvier at attracting new talent to their organisations. With jobs on the rise, applicants can afford to be more selective in their job search. This, combined with concerns surrounding skills gaps, means construction businesses have a bigger challenge on their hands.

Apprenticeship schemes

The latest statistics echo concerns of the construction sectors much reported skills shortage, which the Conservative government will be hoping to tackle by introducing 3 million extra apprenticeships into the UK over the next five year term.

As the construction industry accounts for close to 7% of the GDP, it is thought that the sector will be responsible for a significant number of new apprenticeships in the coming years.