Skill Shortage in Construction: Causes and Solutions - Essay Sample

Introduction

Given the critical role played by the construction industry in providing jobs to thus reducing poverty, the industry is facing one of the most critical challenges regarding the shortage of required skills. This challenge has presented a major obstacle to growth and development of the industry. This paper outlines the effects of skill shortage in the construction industry and then suggest some recommendations on how to mitigate the impacts

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The main reasons for skills shortage in the construction industry are attributed to a certain perception by young people and parents, that the construction industry is poorly paid yet has the hardest labor among all occupations. Therefore, due to this reason, many young people opt for white-collar jobs over construction jobs. Shortage of skills in construction has some major impacts on the entire industry. These impacts include; one, it hinders sustainable growth and development of the emerging construction firms, two, affects the growth of Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) negatively, and three, it hinders effective projects' delivery to the construction clients. Another effect is that construction firms end up using unskilled workers due to the shortage of skilled ones, which has affected the industry's productivity negatively. Also, by hiring unskilled labor, the quality of work done has dramatically declined, which has resulted in reworking, which in turn leads to wastage of time and money. Also, skill shortage makes the few skilled individuals, who are already in the industry, demand more pay which negatively impacts the firms' profitability.

In order to address this issue conclusively, construction firms will need to adopt workers' training so as to enhance their skills. Also, contractors will need to show young people and their parents the benefits of working in the construction field, which means that they will have to try and change the perception that the general public has over the industry. Another strategy would be to give the entire industry a technological boost which will help them in attracting more potential workers. Also, contractors should capitalize on the massive social media following by sharing job postings on the platforms. Moreover, showing the new workers as well as potential workers that industry values them will play a significant role in encouraging more workers to apply for the construction jobs. Lastly, as one of reasons for skill shortage in the construction industry is the perception that the public has, which is that workers are poorly paid and yet they work the hardest, it will be advisable that the industry revises its pay package and ensure that its salaries and wages are at level with the current standard offer in the market.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the impacts of skill shortage greatly affect the industry's productivity. Therefore, contractors should always find ways on how they could address the issue once and for all. And since the problem will require a well-thought-out strategy, contractors should take their time to consult and do their research, so as to come up with a strategy that would actually work for them.