Latest news: Construction to lose 45,000 jobs in 2012

The construction industry faces a bleak 2012 after an industry body report suggested that 45,000 jobs will be lost across the sector this year. 25/01/2012

Output in the industry is expected to fall by 3% in 2012 and growth will continue to be unsteady over the next five years, according to the report by CITB-ConstructionSkills.

Manual trades will be worst hit, with demand in 2016 for manual labourers and bricklayers set to be 3,000 and 2,500 below 2010 levels respectively.

However, one bright spot is a predicted growth in the number of construction managers required, with a further 30,000 positions forecast for 2016.

Judy Lowe, deputy chair of CITB-ConstructionSkills, said the industry was in for a tough time.

‘Infrastructure investment, the first nuclear power plants and the revival of private housing will help, but the hard fact remains that despite an increase in growth from 2013 onwards, output and employment levels in construction will not have reached their 2007 levels by the end of the forecast in 2016,’ she said.

‘Construction is an economically important industry – contributing 8% to GDP and employing three million workers in its supply chain. It has the potential to stimulate the economy and we are working with government to look for ways to return the UK to growth,’ she added.