A slowdown in the construction industry since the EU referendum has seen CITB revise down the number of workers needed by 2020 by a third.

The CITB’s latest Construction Skills Network report has shown that construction output over the next five years is set to average 2%. This is a fall of 2.5% in comparison with the CSN report in January.

As a result, the CITB has revised down the number of workers needed in the sector by 2020 from 232,000 to 157,000.

Steve Radley, CITB Director of Policy, said the figures reflected the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote.

Radley commented: “Delays and uncertainty over investment decisions and access to migrant labour will likely intensify as Brexit nears.

“While employers’ main focus in the short term will be to weather the storm, it’s also important that they equip their workforce with the right skills for the challenges ahead.”

Average growth rates throughout the UK have stayed varied, with areas such as the South West (2.8%) and North West (2.2%) showing a positive growth over the next five years.

However, the East Midlands (0.2%), the North East (0.1%) and Scotland (0.6%) are all expected to contract.
London experiences the largest shift, where growth for the next five years has gone down by two percentage points to 1.5%, which was down from 3.5% in January.

As a consequence just 25,350 new workers will be needed each year in England, in comparison with 34,950 in January.

Meanwhile, Wales will need 3,540 workers (down from 5,440), Scotland will need 1,810 (down from 4,270) and Northern Ireland will need 650 (down from 1,760).

The CITB said infrastructure projects such Hinkley Point C have boosted its growth forecast. However, the body added that the infrastructure was still likely to contract further than previously anticipated because of pauses in road building and a weak performance in the electricity sub sector.