£5m boost from CITB to get hard-to-reach candidates into construction

CITB’s biggest-ever funding opportunity opens today, with a £5 million commission to help under-represented groups into the construction industry.

Pathways into Construction will help connect employers with people who traditionally don’t enter construction, including the unemployed, women of all ages and full time learners who study construction but struggle to join the industry.

From today, CITB will welcome funding applications from organisations that work with one or more of the following five groups and want to help them into construction:

• Young people who are not in education, training or work, particularly where existing networks are already in place
• The long-term unemployed
• Service Leavers who left the military at least 12 months ago
• Women wishing to join construction
• Full-time learners (focused on CBE Diploma students)

The fund is a direct intervention by CITB following extensive research into critical training and employment issues in the sector. Research topics included routes into construction careers, work readiness, recruiting young people who are not in education, training or work, and pre-employment interventions, like work experience and gaining soft skills.

Stephen Cole, Head of Careers Strategy at CITB, says: “CITB’s new commission, Pathways into Construction opens up a huge opportunity for the industry. With Brexit on the horizon, the fund will widen employers’ pool of domestic talent, diversify the industry and increase opportunities for those on the margins of construction, improving social mobility.

“By working with organisations that specialise in reaching these groups, the fund will facilitate the creation of sustainable partnerships and help the industry reach new talent that’s previously been untapped.”

Mark Reynolds, CEO of Mace Group and Skills Lead for the Construction Leadership Council, says: “To ensure that we can keep building sustainably, it is vital that the construction sector has access to a broad and diverse range of talent. This new funding will have a huge impact, targeting people who traditionally don’t enter our industry. It will help to ensure that everyone can access high quality construction training and employers can find the right new people to deliver their projects and programmes.”

Thomas Graham, Chief Investment & Strategy Officer at The Careers & Enterprise Company, says: “We are delighted to be supporting this exciting and important opportunity for the construction sector. It closely aligns with our work and the opportunities The Careers & Enterprise Company are continuing to create for young people across the country to find out about the industry.”