ABSTRACT
It was estimated that the UK construction industry would need to recruit 360,000 construction workers by 2004 to replace those leaving the industry and to respond to the recent recovery in this sector (Building, 1999). As a result of this growth, the industry is expected to experience skills shortages in both traditional and new skill areas. Mackenzie et al. (2000) highlighted the factors that have contributed to this skills shortage, including: a fall in the number of young people available to enter the labour market, thus increasing competition to attract new employees (Ashworth and Harvey, 1993; Druker and White, 1996); the changing nature of construction markets and, in particular, a decrease in the need for construction workers with traditional skills (CITB, 1991); the introduction of new technologies impacting on skill requirements (Gruneberg, 1997); the cyclical nature of the industry and fluctuating employment patterns; the growth of self-employment and labour-only sub-contractors (Fellows et al., 1995); the fragmentation of the industry (Rainbird, 1991) and the decline in construction training and associated resources (Agapiou et al., 1995; Morton and Jagger, 1995; Thomas, 1996).
