Arturas Gulevskis of Brymec looks to the future for construction as the next generation of engineers and installers brings their innate digital skills to the industry.
According to figures from Glenigan, the UK construction industry is rebounding from the impacts of the last two years. However, we continue to face skills shortages.
But the scarcity of skills and people isn’t new. The construction industry has known for some time that it needs to attract new people to the sector. More importantly, it needs people with the capabilities to take construction into a future that revolves around digital tools and processes.
One of the challenges for construction is that for decades the image it has presented isn’t particularly modern or forward-thinking. Too often, people outside of our industry think of it as low-paid manual work that’s carried out in dirty and dangerous conditions. There’s no doubt that there will always be physical ‘building’ work in our sector, but tools and careers are evolving.
Construction’s digital future may be the very thing that can help to attract a new generation to roles in the built environment. Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2021) is made up of digital natives. Now aged between 10 and 25 years old, many of them will be at the point when they’re imagining what the world of work might offer,or making important decisions about university and long-term careers.
This age group is sometimes referred to as the Minecraft Generation. If you haven’t come across the game (released in 2009), it’s incredibly popular, with around 130 million players worldwide. One of the reasons the game has attracted so many users is that it’s all about building virtual worlds from the ground up – putting players in charge of their own environments. If that’s not a sign that young people might be interested in a construction career, then I don’t know what is.
In the construction sector, BIM and digital twinning are real-life examples of world-building. They enable designers and engineers to work through complex projects to deliver buildings that perform as intended – meeting the growing requirement for low-carbon, high-efficiency operation.
The Construction Leadership Council’s report on skills requirements for 2021 to 2025* focuses on equipping the industry with talent to apply digital tools at scale. If the industry is to achieve net zero, reduced costs and better margins, that’s what we’ll need.
We need these digital tools because they can help firms in our sector become more streamlined and efficient. At Brymec, for example, we have invested in developing online procurement systems so that our clients can enable their on-site staff to order directly and have the products they need delivered to site. This reduces the workload for busy procurement departments, allowing them to focus on keeping work flowing rather than carrying out tasks that can be done effectively by on-site teams.
Highlighting the industry’s digital development could be a big pull for Gen Z into the construction industry. This age group is so at home with technology that they regard digital tools as critical to their working lives. It’s a generation that has not simply consumed digital content but is also well-versed in creating it too, so they’re keen to take a hands-on approach. For them, digital is not the future, but the present.
Parents save a significant impact on choice of career, so industry image change is important to persuade parents of the younger Gen Z that construction offers a robust career path, with salaries to match. Talented youngsters have a lot of choice, including well-paid IT jobs.
One of the best ways we can compete with other sectors is to emphasise that world-building is even more exciting in real-life. That what construction teams make lasts for decades and has a huge impact on the lives of communities and businesses. What’s more, Gen Z newcomers joining the industry can be assured that their skills will help to build a future that is better for them and the environment
