March saw the strongest upturn in new construction orders since September 2007, four and a half years ago. The monthly survey of construction industry purchasing managers reports a marked expansion of UK construction sector output, with the rate of growth accelerating for a second successive survey period and confidence strengthening. The seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS Construction [...]
The government’s newly-launched NewBuy Guarantee could see 50,000 new jobs supported in the construction and related sectors in the next three years. This is according to figures from industry body the House Building Federation, which estimates that 25,000 new homes could be built by the scheme in the next three years and its [...]
Britain’s construction sector grew at the fastest pace in nearly a year in February and firms turned more upbeat as order inflow picked up strongly, a survey showed on Friday, boosting chances that the economy is recovering from a contraction last quarter. However, in a reminder of the uphill struggle the industry as well as [...]
Applications are on the rise but skills shortages remain, so recruitment agencies are urged to show employers the extra value they can add. The credit crunch followed by a deep recession have left their mark on the construction sector. Even in recovery, construction candidate databases remain swollen but key skills shortages remain. With a lack [...]
The construction industry’s future employees are highly ambitious, clued-up and are keen to quickly climb the career ladder, according to the findings of a CITB-ConstructionSkills’ survey hosted on its youth website ‘bconstructive’ last month.Those born after 1985, nicknamed “Generation Thumb” because of their renowned enthusiasm for texting and gaming, cited ‘the opportunity to become your [...]
A ground breaking partnership was launched today to help put in place the skilled construction workforce that will be needed to deliver the UK’s New Nuclear Build programme and take full advantage of the employment and investment opportunities the project offers. The Memorandum of Understanding between the National Skills Academy for Nuclear and the National [...]
From Saturday 1 October 2011 the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will rise in accordance with the recommendations set out by the Low Pay Commission last April. From October 2011: The adult rate will increase by 15p to £6.08 an hour; The rate for 18-20 year olds will increase by 6p to £4.98 an hour; The [...]
Acas has warned employers time is running out to get to grips with what it calls “the biggest-ever shake-up of rights for temp workers”. With less than a week to go until the changes come into effect on 1 October, Acas has alerted bosses they could face a fine up to £5,000 from an Employment [...]
Tougher restrictions driven by security concerns More employers are blocking staff access to social media sites than was the case a year ago as security fears trump the potential business benefits of these media tools, a new study has found. In 2010, only 9 per cent of employers blocked staff access to sites such as [...]
A survey published this week by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated and conducted by Harris Interactive reveals that 43% of UK employees admit to having called in sick to work when they were not actually sick. Significant numbers of employees admit to calling in sick to work when they are not actually ill. In [...]
