Almost half of the millennials – people who reached working age in 2000 – working in construction expect to leave their jobs within the next 12 months, according to a new survey.
Nearly a third plan to leave within six months, the research from recruiter Hays found.
The survey of 20,000 employees from construction organisations of all sizes throughout the UK argues that a “broad brush” approach to managing millennials means businesses risk losing a generation of talent.
The Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2016 report also found that 25% of millennials stated that they wanted to leave their current role due to a lack of future opportunities, suggesting that businesses may need to provide more investment in training and clearer communication around progression.
Flexible working was also highlighted as a key priority for this age group, with 62% of millennials saying it was the most important benefit when looking for a new role, followed by over 25 days holiday allowance.
The Hays report recommends that construction firms examine how to improve their staff retention. With many millennials now transitioning from junior positions into more senior roles, businesses risk losing the older millennials in their early 30s who are moving into key management positions.
Andrew Bredin, managing director of Hays Construction, said: “The industry faces well-documented difficulties in attracting younger millennials into the profession, and is quite rightly looking for new ways to make careers in construction appealing for this group. But employers should not overlook those millennials at later stages of their career taking on management responsibility. Employers must put equal focus on this group or they risk losing a generation of managers.
“Career progression is highly important for this group, so businesses should focus on taking a more considered and nuanced approach to incentivising and retaining their newest management generation while also encouraging junior employees into the profession.”
Steve Radley, director of policy at CITB, told Construction Manager: “We recognise the industry faces challenges both in recruiting and retaining skilled workers. The best way to address this is by setting out clear progression routes and ensuring people working in the industry have access to the training they need to follow these paths.
“We launched Go Construct last year to address both of these issues, and we are working closely with employers to help them deliver the training to ensure their employees’ career progression.”
