Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Institute of Student Employers’ (ISE) annual student recruitment survey reports a resilient graduate labour market in the construction industry with 35% more jobs than the previous year.
This level of growth was equalled only by the public sector, while the graduate jobs market overall grew 10% year-on-year.
Since the 2008 recession graduate jobs have increased 10% or above on just two other occasions – in 2013 and 2014 – indicating a buoyant market despite political and economic challenges. However, employers anticipate that Brexit and/or a recession will reduce hiring over the next five years.
Construction firms also increased hires onto school leaver programmes, which had risen by 5% on the previous year, and the number of short-term and temporary hires through work placements and internships were up by 35% and 5% respectively. This was in contrast to many other sectors, which overall reduced the number of placements and internships, dropping by 7% and 4% respectively.
Stephen Isherwood, Chief Executive of ISE said: “It’s reassuring to see that construction firms are bucking the trend by continuing to offer temporary opportunities as they enable students to gain valuable work experience.
“So far employers are mainly resisting the urge to dial down their recruitment in the face of current and future challenges. Hiring is up, employers are receiving a healthy volume of applications and they are paying more. We hope that this continues and will do everything that we can to support firms as they manage the uncertainty that lies ahead.”
