CITB Wales announce a further £780,000 investment for Onsite Experience Hubs

CITB Wales announce a further £780,000 investment for the CITB Wales’ Onsite Experience Hubs. The project, which has been extended until 2025, has already seen 524 people site ready in a period of 18-months.

780 local people will gain invaluable experience and skills

Now with this new round of £780,000 funding, 780 local people will gain invaluable experience and skills, which will enable them to choose from a range of construction career opportunities.

To take away the barriers to construction employment

CITB Wales’ Onsite Experience Hubs has been operating in Wales as part of a £9.5m UK-wide scheme. The aim of this project is to take away the barriers to construction employment.

With the ongoing skills shortage and the fact that 33% of built environment graduates are not working in the industry, projects like this are urgently needed.

Our team spoke to industry experts about what they think of this initiative

Bridges the gap between textbook intelligence and industry realism

Lecturer in Structural Engineering and Advanced Structural Engineer, Cian Farrell, said,

Whether it be a new or existing development, every development’s local community plays a key role in the performance of the development over its life cycle. The key pillars of ‘Inclusiveness, Employment, and Education’ are core attributes that we must integrate into our development plans in delivering sustainable developments.

This new investment in the expansion of Onsite Experience Hubs not only helps connect local communities to our developments but bridges the gap between textbook intelligence and industry realism of which our industry suffers greatly from today. In addition, this hands-on educational approach will act a key problem solver for the skilled labour shortages that we are experiencing in the construction industry.

Very well done to all involved and we look forward to seeing the scheme being rolled out in more regions across the UK.

A positive drive to skill young people and stem the shortage gap of skills in the built environment

Emma Nicholson, Founder of the LinkedIn group, Women in Sustainable Construction and Property, and Principal Sustainability Project Manager, at Pick Everard, observed that,

This is really exciting news for the industry, and great to see The CITB are continuing to support with this. This has both social and economic benefits for all involved, and provides a supportive helping hand to the next generation of budding new construction workers.

I think this initiative definitely deserves to be shouted about!

You can listen to Emma in a fantastic interview alongside Sumele Aruofor about How Women Can Create Sustainable Change.

America is seeing more investment in trade schools and facilities

According to one of our American experts, Product Marketing Manager for STACK Construction Technologies, Aaron Henderson,

In the U.S., we’re seeing more investment in trade schools and facilities that help to bring more people into the skilled trades. In the state of Tennessee specifically, we have seen a commitment from Governor Bill Lee and state government through initiatives like the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE) Grant.

The GIVE Grant is a $25 million competitive grant process that helps to align local workforce and education partners to help address “skills gaps” in local workforce pools.

Programs like this along with onsite training, education of opportunities in construction, and encouraging more diversity and inclusion in the industry are key to helping to solve the skilled labour shortage that we are experiencing on a global level.

Don’t miss Aaron’s interview in Episode 44 when he discusses how to minimise risk during these turbulent times, while giving listeners an interesting insight into the AEC sectors in America.

Stack CT also have an interesting article about A Guide to Tech Education and Advanced Training in Construction (in America).

A step in the right direction for the industry

According to Alex Ramsden, creator of Collabed, a construction recruitment and learning network.

It’s great to see CITB continuing to support the next generation of construction workers! A step in the right direction for the industry.

Alex also offers his expertise in this article, 33% of built environment graduates are not working in the industry.

The onsite experience will make a huge difference

Construction Skills Training Academy Manager at TIGERS Ltd, Steven Manclark feels that,

The onsite experience will make a huge difference to any young person looking to enter the industry. Building sites can be difficult environments for an apprentice to adapt to and this will ensure a level of clarity before starting employment.

Hopefully this will not only encourage young people to engage with apprenticeships but also improve the chances of them sustaining employment.

We have delivered pre-apprenticeship programmes on site with our employer partners before and they have been a huge success.

We need fresh ideas on how to drive construction to net-zero carbon milestones

Bryan Oknyansky, AIA, a Senior Designer at Studio Moren said that,

Whether its for housebuilders or commercial developments, the construction industry needs more skilled workers. It’s a relief to know that there are organisations attracting young workers to fill the skills gap in the industry to be tomorrow’s construction leaders.

We need fresh ideas on how to drive construction to net-zero carbon milestones and younger workers who are trained and presented with career opportunities will be essential to steering the course.

Listen to Bryan Oknyansky On What Shoes, Western and Oriental Architecture Have in Common.

We need schemes like this to bring new employees into the built environment

Lecturer and Cityzen Architecture & Sustainability Director, John Smith MCIAT, feels that,

This is great news, we need schemes like this to bring new employees into the built environment, providing new workers with onsite experience will be invaluable.

All our current projects have had shortages in tradespeople over the last year so anything that brings new people into the industry must be a good thing.

Tune into John talking about Can Net Zero and The Cost of Living Crisis Co Exist