Everybody knows that housing is a huge issue for both the Government and for citizens. The State has targets to reach under its Housing For All plan, while citizens of all ages, stages and backgrounds are struggling to find a place to live. On top of this there are retrofitting and insulation targets if Ireland is to meet its climate change commitments.
This should all add up to a recruitment bonanza in construction, so is it translating into jobs? Nora Condon, senior data analyst and assistant manager in the skills and labour market research unit at Solas, the further education and training agency, says that there is a well-identified shortage of quantity surveyors, civil engineers, construction project managers, plumbers, carpenters and electricians.
“In construction there are difficulties in meeting housing and retrofitting targets, with supply chain issues, interest rates and the war in Ukraine all creating some uncertainty. That said Government projects such as Housing for All will go ahead.
“The jobs in construction generally require a degree, masters, apprenticeship or experience, although a number of short courses on offer through the education and training boards would make a carpenter or plumber [even more] highly employable, particularly in areas like near-zero energy building projects.”
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Miriam O’Hara, senior recruiter for construction and engineering at FRS Recruitment, says that they provide temporary, contract and permanent staff to the construction industry throughout Ireland, recruiting for main contractors, sub-contractors, developers, engineering consultancies, project management and PQS firms, and State and semi-State-run organisations.
“Our candidates range from general labourers working on an hourly basis, to c-suite personnel,” she says. “We also recruit for roles in site admin and documentation, HSEQ, BIM, site engineering, quantity surveying, design engineering, project management and contract management.
“The sector is extremely busy, with job ads up 25 per cent on the previous year, despite a decline in production for both residential and non-residential building which appears to have been offset by a rebound in civil engineering works.
“There are immediate positions available across the country in areas that had been forgotten for a number of years such as Carlow, Longford and Meath. The sector [also] has openings outside of the traditional construction positions, including administration, marketing, HR, IT and finance and accounting roles,” O’Hara says.