Report identifies 19 roles that will be core to future delivery

Construction skills require an overhaul in order to meet the industry’s future needs, according to an industry group.

In a new report, the Offsite Alliance identified 19 so-called ‘future occupational profiles’ that reflect the direction in which the sector should be headed.

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It warned that traditional apprenticeships could not carry the burden of reskilling and reform, calling for a new model based on the Skills Value Chain, a framework borrowed from the manufacturing sector which focuses on forecasting, modular training and employer-led delivery.

It also urged a greater emphasis in training on decarbonisation, digitisation and industrialised construction.

Launching the report at UKREiiF, Gaynor Tennant, chair of the Offsite Alliance, said: “The way we build and the demands we place on our built environment have changed rapidly in the last decade. 

“But we’ve allowed the education and training system to lag behind what we need, so we must urgently update roles and training to ensure that we have the skills and competences needed to deliver the buildings of the future.”

The 19 future roles that the report identified as core to future delivery include titles such as construction integration technologist, process and quality engineer, sustainability design technician, and strategic workforce operations manager.

The report said each occupational profile is “mapped to future-ready competencies” and urged Skills England, CITB, IFATE, and Government to mandate their use for workforce planning and standards reform.

The ‘Building Capability: From Insights to Impact’ report is the result of a major industry-led the Workforce Foresighting Hub programme involving over 150 contributors

It was led by the Offsite Alliance, a non-profit membership organisation pushing for transformation in UK construction through modern methods of construction.

The research project was carried out in collaboration with Mott MacDonald, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, Innovate UK, the Ministry of Building Innovation and Education and Dynamic Knowledge.