Recruiting new staff is a challenge for about 80% of construction and installation companies in Belgium, according to the Belgian construction federation, Embuild.
Finding new employees is very problematic for 51% of construction and installation companies, and problematic for 29%, Embuild said on Tuesday. There are 14,000 vacancies in the sector, the federation noted.
"The problem is that one in five companies is limiting its supply because of this labour shortage," Embuild CEO Niko Demeester explained. "That's why it's high time to upgrade education in the construction industry and focus employment policy more on activation, training and redevelopment."
Barely 4% of the companies surveyed by Embuild have no problems recruiting staff.
Some 37% of companies are looking for construction workers, 19% for site managers, 11% for high profiles in construction, 7% for construction workers for energy renovation projects and 5% for profiles in the use of new technologies in construction.
Construction and installation companies have been trying to remedy the staff shortage by working with Belgian (24%) or foreign (20%) subcontracting companies.
About 21% of companies are limiting their activity because they would otherwise be unable to complete their work due to the shortage of staff, and 17% are starting their sites late, according to Embuild, which surveyed 200 companies.
Embuild wants more and more young people to take an interest in job opportunities. It is therefore running a 10-year campaign to modernise the image of construction.
With this campaign, entitled 'We are building tomorrow,' the sector is specifically targeting young people.
