Launched in October 2016 at the BCITO Skills Summit held in Wellington, the BCITO’s Carpentry Workforce Development Plan is designed to provide industry employers with strategies to plan for the growth of their future workforce.
Information from the BCITO shows the construction sector is reaching a point of crisis on the back of unprecedented demand for new homes and other buildings, and that there just aren’t enough people to keep up.
Speaking at the Skills Summit, BCITO chief executive Warwick Quinn told delegates if we don’t take collective action now, there’s a real risk we won’t be able to reach future demand.
“To meet demand, we need 17,000 workers to join the sector during the next five years. We also need to dramatically increase the number of people that train,” Mr Quinn said.
“For the carpentry sector alone we need to triple the number of people completing a qualification each year for the next five years.”
Meeting current and future needs
The Workforce Development initiative aims to support businesses and employers to develop a workforce that has the capability and capacity to meet current and future needs.
The industry needs to respond to workforce challenges in a way that works best in a unique sector context.
The Carpentry Workforce Development Plan outlines the challenges the sector faces and the key ways businesses can respond to these challenges.
The plan also includes detailed themes and highlight actions that will make change happen.
The BCITO has been in close consultation with carpentry businesses, and has identified three key areas to focus on to help develop a stable workforce:
• Getting the right workforce
• Running businesses effectively
• Developing skills and valuing qualifications.
The sector and the BCITO will jointly undertake a number of actions in 2017 in the belief that these will have a significant impact.
A copy of the Carpentry Workforce Development Plan has been mailed to each employer who is actively training apprentices.
A copy can also be downloaded at www.bcito.org.nz/workforce.
If you would like to talk to someone from the BCITO about developing your workforce, email [email protected].
