This is good news for temporary site engineers as it means they have been able to choose from an ever wider range of contracts, picking those that appeal because of project, location or rate.
But while younger site engineers may prefer the broader experience they can gain by taking on a succession of temporary roles, most companies still prefer to employ permanent engineers. This has led to a huge demand for the relatively few engineers looking for permanent employment.
To hold onto their site engineers, companies are offering higher salaries, better packages, training and career opportunities. The Hays Montrose/Building salary guide at the end of last year showed an average annual increase of 12.3% for site engineers compared with just 5.4% for site managers.
With site engineers being so well looked after, companies can find it difficult to attract a permanent candidate. In many cases they have no alternative but to offer the position on a temporary basis. And with temporary engineers realising they are in high demand, the freelance rate for intermediate site engineers has increased by 15-20% over the last year.
Often, site engineers see the position as a launch pad for other roles in construction. In their mid to late 20s, many site engineers make a move towards site management, worsening still further the engineering skills shortage.
Partly because of the skills shortage but also because companies are starting to realise the advantages of a combined site engineer and management role, it is becoming more common on smaller projects for the site manager also to be responsible for engineering on site.
Steven Hamilton is a trained site engineer. Four years ago he began taking on site management duties as well after seeing a niche in the market.
“For contracts of up to £5m it often isn’t feasible for a company to employ both a site engineer and a site manager,” he says. “On projects of that size I was finding engineering didn’t take up a full day. I can’t emphasise enough how important both roles are, but to combine engineering and management was personally satisfying and was for me a natural progression as they both seem to gel on a smaller project.”
Being able to keep control of the site is a clear advantage for an engineer. And for the client and contractor, having one representative rather than two or more for liaison is equally attractive. However, as Hamilton points out, combining the two roles means the engineer is busy 100% of the time. “It’s a case of juggling both balls without dropping one - not everyone wants to or can do this.”
So is it the end of the permanent site engineer? Unless a dramatic number of site engineers become interested in permanent placements again - yes.
Source
Construction Manager
Postscript
This information was gathered from recruitment agency Hays Montrose’s national network of over 50 offices. For more information on Hays Montrose, visit the website at www.haysworks.com
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