A total of 430 companies employing more than 100,000 people have already signed up to the Construction Leadership Council’s Construction Talent Retention scheme, as it goes live today (24 July).
The not-for-profit programme, backed by government, businesses, professional institutions and unions provides an online portal to allow skilled individuals to showcase their experience and expertise to businesses across the industry.
The free-to-use site allows the redeployment of staff at risk of redundancy and enables temporary employee loans between businesses. It also gives displaced workers from other sectors a route to find new employment.
More than 400 employers have signed up to use the scheme. These companies – from across the UK – range from multinational engineering giants to micro businesses.
Construction minister and Construction Leadership Council co-chair Nadhim Zahawi MP said: “Building new homes, accelerating infrastructure, and making sure people have the right skills are all at the heart of the government’s plans to build back better from covid-19. Launching today, this scheme will help to retain vital knowledge within the construction industry, enabling businesses to rapidly recruit talented individuals and reduce skills shortages at this pivotal time in the nation’s economic recovery.”
Welcoming the scheme, Caroline Gumble, Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) CEO, said: “The CIOB is delighted that BEIS is backing a Talent Retention Scheme for our sector. We have been facing the prospect of a skills shortage in the industry for some time. This has the potential to be exacerbated by the impact from coronavirus with a possible loss of existing skills and talent from the sector, which could be devastating. To see this targeted support delivered for an industry which is an important driver of the economy is excellent. I’m also heartened to see another example of the sector successfully collaborating, right across the industry, to bring something like this to life. Collaboration is also a key component in the drive to see the sector move into recovery.”
The site is live at www.clc-talentretention.co.uk and is open to both businesses and individual candidates looking for work.
