According to the latest figures, out of 130 adults supported by the County Council’s ‘Construct Your Futures’ programme over the last year, 87% were still working in a building-related job after six months or more – compared to national levels which show 70% of new entrants in the sector drop-out within the first three months of employment.
This encouraging trend has been highlighted this week during a special visit by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to see Hampshire’s best practice delivery of the Hampshire’s Construct Your Future programme, funded by the CITB, at two of the county’s 10 partner training centres – Fareham College and Silver Trowel Construction Skills Training Academy in Gosport.
Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Nick Adams-King said: “With the CITB funding, we have introduced this programme which aims to support Hampshire’s economy by helping to keep more people in the construction industry and address the sector’s skills gap. By working together with our partners, we’ve been able to bring together training course provision with introductions to local employers looking to take on new talent, and, crucially, offer mentoring support for new recruits into construction to help them navigate their all-important first six months in the industry. In developing the programme, we took a closer look at the barriers to starting and maintaining a career in the construction industry which has meant the support goes far beyond providing just courses to learn new skills.”
During the visit on Wednesday (11 September), CITB leaders responsible for commissioning the programme, have toured the partners’ training facilities and discovered more about the support provided to those learning various construction trades such as bricklaying, plastering and tiling – much needed skills to help fill a construction industry skills shortage and maintain long-term employment.
Elaine Morrissey from the commissioning team at CITB said: “It was great to see the Construct Your Future programme in operation, highlighting the engagement of all local training providers and employers working together with Hampshire County Council to enable students to learn the skills to achieve industry qualifications which lead to employment in the construction industry. Working in construction can lead to a wide variety of roles and opportunities within the industry including site management, project management, craft skills or even become self-employed and setting up your own business.”
Anyone aged 19 and over, living in the Hampshire area and looking to work in construction – or those considering a change of career – can find out more about funded courses to help enter the industry from the County Council’s Skills Bootcamps webpages and people of any age can join Construct Your Future employment support.
All Skills Bootcamps learners are offered support upon completion of their course to progress within their chosen field. Support offered includes CV review, pastoral support, coaching, and mentoring.