Employers are expressing concern at skill levels in numerous areas of the industry.

Increasing numbers of young people are coming into the building services sector with a lack of maturity and sub-standard reading, writing and numeracy skills. This is the view of employers canvassed in comprehensive research carried out by SummitSkills, as part of the most comprehensive survey of the workforce ever carried out in the sector.

Mike Hammond, research manager for SummitSkills, says: “There has been a degree of concern over the basic skills of new entrants to the profession…Many employers would rather take on older workers but funding militates against this.”

Young entrants are not the only area of concern. The fast development of mobile communications, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), means that less IT-literate staff are struggling to keep up and may need training to use the new technology.

New government legislation to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions has also seen the rapid uptake of combined heat and power, solar panels, photovoltaic cells and mini wind turbines. This is a burgeoning new market for contractors but they need staff experienced in these new technologies.

For more information on SummitSkills’ Horizon project, its survey and development of a sector skills agreement see page 21 of this issue of EMC.

m SummitSkills has developed a careers map for building services engineering. The map tracks career routes through a typical career, from entry level, through the ranks to professional status. It is hoped that it will help trainees to see a clear career journey and select the right path to reflect their interests.

Source

Electrical and Mechanical Contractor