As building services has evolved massively over the last decade or two,utilising both new materials and state of the art technology – it is perhaps increasingly justifiable to state that it is one of the more exciting technical sectors to work within.With growing demands for more futuristic and more environmentally friendly buildings, today’s building services engineers are constantly being challenged at every level to provide innovative,new design solutions.
Recruitment for the building services industry is currently highly candidate driven with an apparent greater emphasis being placed on recruiting permanent personnel rather than contingent workers.This article seeks to examine some of the underlying influencing factors behind the current state of the industry;identify any variations between specialisms within the field;and examine the future prospects for candidates beginning or continuing their careers in this sector
North-south divide?
Of particular importance is the much-talked about and clearly observable distinction between recruitment and career opportunities in the south of England compared to those available in the north and Scotland.The south of England appears to be enjoying a high level of business once again,after a comparatively quiet period when a large number of companies were having projects put on hold,or even shelved. Ordinarily,this would be great news for the industry but there is a very real concern that there is a growing shortage of suitable engineering personnel in the UK today.
From a recruitment perspective,when a market is in this state,it poses a number of challenges to everyone within the supply chain – from line managers to the agencies they use to source staff.The main issue is the shortage of engineers available within the industry, as during the quiet period many engineers found themselves out of work for long periods of time.Agencies observed a general trend for engineers migrating to other industries (such as the oil and gas,or rail industries)where they could easily transfer their existing skills.Others still opted to work overseas;but worryingly a large number left to change career completely to something they considered to be more stable.
In the north of England and Scotland the problem can be considered to be even worse.Whilst there is continued investment in these areas with PFI projects,new builds and other construction and redevelopments,the migration of personnel away from London has not been sufficient to support this.There are small,regional work forces prevalent in the major conurbations but nothing on the scale of the candidates available in and around the South East and within the M25 orbital.
Specifically,there are now a number of PFI hospital schemes offering the opportunity for people to move away from the more common commercial work, and declining residential markets to work on high value,challenging projects.Individuals with experience of hospital projects are a hot commodity now with every indication of this continuing for the next few years as a minimum.
Who’s in demand?
An ideal candidate for a recruitment consultant in today’s industry would be aged 25-35,Chartered,MCIBSE with a balanced background of consultancy and contractor design who has experience of hospital projects,good computer literacy and AutoCAD.
Specifically,intermediate and senior design engineers;ductwork detailers;and 3D Cad coordinators with building services experience are highly desirable – whilst recently,the most sought after projects experience has included healthcare,data centres,environmental,MOD and commercial projects.As always there is a general preference for Chartered Engineers and Engineers experienced in the use of Office and specific services software such as Amtech and Hevacomp – and to a large extent this is mirrored in many publications’ recruitment sections.A cursory glance through the appointments section of any building services journal or trade magazine illustrates these points clearly – demonstrating the high demand for certain skill types and how demand for suitably skilled personnel increases the further south one travels.
There is a corresponding adjustment in salaries and rates that can be commanded in such a market place.In an already stretched market through the shortage of suitable skilled and experienced personnel, rates are being artificially escalated to compensate.Higher than average salaries are being paid to capture the right personnel – in what is clearly becoming a never-ending circle of undersupply and over demand.
Industry regeneration
The primary concern amongst many companies in the sector revolves around the availability of new candidates.Two clear trends have been observed that highlight the plight the industry is facing.The immigration of skilled workers from Australia,New Zealand and the USA is clear evidence of an undersupplied UK workforce;whilst many companies are now also opening their doors more and more to school leavers with good GCSE results and providing them with on-the-job training and supporting them through their ongoing education on building services courses.
The fact is that there are fewer building services and related courses available than ever before – which inevitably will provide far less graduate engineers available for contract or permanent employment in the industry.This observation is further supported by the ‘top heavy’management structure that many companies are being forced to construct themselves around – in turn,reflecting the shortage of supply of new design engineers at the graduate and intermediate level – a clear symptom of the problem the industry is facing.
It is perhaps because of a lack of awareness of the opportunities and challenges offered that young people are not being attracted to pursue a career within this sector.
Promotion and marketing of opportunities within the sector is suitable for short-term requirement satisfaction but will only ever recycle the current pool of candidates.
The future
Building services recruitment in the medium-term looks sure to remain candidate driven with increasing permanent recruitment clearly expected.Unless something is done to dramatically increase the number of building services graduates entering the industry,employers will continue to experience difficulty finding suitable workers.
The good news,however,is that the government has begun to actively promote the industry and some companies have taken the initiative to re-start apprenticeship schemes.The UK government provide a range of information sources covering departments and agencies that provide further information about industry support and training.
Most prominent among the many sources and web sites set up to support the sector is Construction Skills – the Sector Skills Council for the Construction Industry and the Built Environment (www.constructionskills.net).As well as providing masses of useful industry information it serves as a primary indicator of the commitment to the industry by the UK government,and the recognised importance of the sector in contributing to the UK economy.More information on the government’s activities for the sector is available through the web site:www.businesslink.gov.uk
The fact remains that whilst there is an ever-increasing local deficit in available personnel for the industry,pay rates will be kept artificially high.For an employer,this isn’t good news, but for the contractor or staff individual,the career opportunities and remuneration that it is now possible to command means that their future in this industry is indeed very attractive.
Contributors to this article are senior building services recruitment consultants at NES International Ltd.Rob Norris who coordinates Southern recruitment and Ben Byram who manages Northern recruitment.
