Skills Shortage Push
- Employers and governments are increasing investment in accelerated training and new roles to fill construction and infrastructure labour gaps. - The Scottish Plant Owners Association appointed a skills and industry engagement officer to boost workforce development for members. - Despite investments, access barriers like the UK's reported 'apprenticeship penalty' could limit uptake among poorer trainees. ( )
Britain is trying to train construction workers faster, even as the welfare system can make some apprenticeships too costly for poorer families to take up. (gov.uk, gov.uk) The Construction Industry Training Board says the UK will need 47,860 extra construction workers a year from 2025 to 2029, or 239,300 over five years, as output rises and the workforce grows toward 2.75 million. (citb.co.uk) The UK government said on March 23, 2025 that it would invest more than £600 million over four years to train up to 60,000 more construction workers by 2029 through extra placements, Technical Excellence Colleges, foundation apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps. (gov.uk) In Scotland, the Scottish Plant Owners Association appointed Cheryl MacLennan as skills and industry engagement officer on April 22, 2026 to help members with workforce development, apprenticeships and training links. (scottishconstructionnow.com) Her brief includes promoting the association’s Tenstar simulator, a machine-training simulator the group says can give plant operators a cheaper and safer way to build skills before they move onto live equipment. (scottishconstructionnow.com) The pressure to add staff is colliding with a benefits rule flagged by the Social Security Advisory Committee on April 23, 2026. It said families can lose Child Benefit and parts of Universal Credit when a 16-year-old starts an apprenticeship, while support usually continues if that young person stays in full-time education. (gov.uk) The committee said the losses in seven case studies ranged from £17.25 to £339.92 a week, and said the biggest hits fell on single-parent households, families with disabled young people, young carers, care leavers and estranged young people. (gov.uk, gov.uk) That leaves employers, trade groups and ministers pushing to widen training routes at the same time that some of the youngest recruits face a direct financial penalty for choosing work-based training over school or college. (gov.uk, gov.uk, scottishconstructionnow.com)
