Construction employment records largest jump since 2006

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has welcomed the significant increase in construction employment revealed in the latest CSO Quarterly National Household Survey. Direct construction employment rose by 6,400 in the second quarter of 2013, with employment rising from 96,300 to 102,700 – the largest quarter on quarter increase since 2006.

“This is positive news for the industry and it shows that as activity grows the construction industry will be able to provide substantial employment opportunities,” said CIF Director General Tom Parlon. “This is a major jump in employment in the space of a few months and it goes to show that when construction companies have work to carry out there will be a significant increase in the number of construction jobs.

“One in four of the people on the Live Register at the moment are former construction workers so there is significant scope for extra employment in our sector. A large proportion of these unemployed people would not require any training if there was more activity, they could be back in paid employment, contributing tax revenue in a very short space of time.

“For direct construction employment to jump by over 6,000 on a quarter by quarter basis is a landmark. It is the largest increase in construction employment since 2006. We have seen a few smaller increases in numbers over the last couple of years but between Q1 2013 and Q2 2013 employment has gone up by 6.6%. That is a statistic that is worth taking notice of.

“Our hope is that this upward trend will be driven by further activity in the sector in the coming months. If there is more done to encourage construction activity then we can look forward to seeing thousands more jobs created as that construction work gets underway,” Mr. Parlon concluded.