Laying the foundations for a constructive career

BOOM or gloom is how many observers described the cyclical nature of the building industry which has always been affected to a very large extent by the state of the economy.

When the economy is buoyant, building companies are busy and give employment directly or indirectly to a whole range of personnel, including general operatives, craft workers, technicians, engineers, surveyors and architects. However in bad times - the 1980s for example - the industry suffers massive lay-offs and high rates of unemployment.

Allied to the construction industry is the property business which is, equally vulnerable to the economic climate.

The good news though is that economists believe that the industry is likely to be less cyclical in the future. "In the past - in the 1970s and early 1980s - the cyclical nature of the industry was more pronounced than in the economy as a whole," says George Hennessy, director of economic affairs for the Construction Industry Federation

But the way the economy is now being managed - the tight reign on public spending and the Central Bank's approach to inflation - I would argue that the construction industry is now linked much more closely with the economy as a whole and offers as good employment prospects as any other sector - as good as the computer industry for example where you can also have lay-offs."

According to the Department of the Environment's recently-launched Construction Industry Review '95 - Outlook '96, the building industry's output amounted to over £5 billion last year (a volume increase of almost 14 per cent on 1994 levels) and the sector employed 114,000 people directly or indirectly - that is 8 per cent of the national work force.

However, the sector is reluctant to describe this as a mini-boom, arguing that it still has some way to go before it overtakes pre-1980 levels of employment. But with the economy set to grow by 5 per cent each year until the end of the century, George Hennessy says that the construction sector will match that performance and substantial employment opportunities will be created.

The review, meanwhile, forecasts skilled manpower shortages by the year 2000 in certain building craft areas - bricklayers, plumbers, gas fitters and other fitters, electricians and mechanics. However, according to Peter McCabe, the CIF's director of business development, the shortages are relatively minor.

"Short-term manpower shortages can be filled by the industry working extra hours with the existing workforce," he says and by the return of Irish craft workers working abroad.

The industry is currently taking on 2,000 apprentices each year, McCabe says, and has agreed with FAS to increase the intake in a number of areas including bricklaying plastering, carpentry and construction plant fitting.

"The young people available to us are excellent," McCabe says. "Our tradespeople are highly sought after abroad because they have very versatile skills. A National Crafts Certificate awarded by FAS is a passport to employment anywhere in the world. . . We argue that there is too much emphasis placed on academic and high-tech programmes and that as a country we should be training more people to obtain craft qualifications," he says.

Apprentices can expect to earn one-third of the basic craft rate of pay - which currently stands at £6 to £7 per hour - in their first year and 90 per cent in their fourth and final year.

The industry is looking for people who have aptitudes and are interested in handskills, rather than people with academic qualifications, McCabe says. In some trades - electricians for example - a Leaving Certificate is a requirement, but in may areas the industry prefers people with junior Certificate only.

There are opportunities, too, in the building industry for skilled technicians with qualifications gained from the RTCs. And trainee construction, electrical and civil engineering technicians who attend the RTCs on day release programmes, are regularly employed by companies and local authorities, says McCabe. "The future in the construction industry is about competency and qualifications."

Up to 20,000 general operatives are now employed in the sector. In the past, these jobs would have been regarded by the general public as unskilled, but increasingly workers are acquiring qualifications and competency standards.

FAS and the ICTU have co-operated to provide a crane operators' training programme, while a course for scaffolders is due to commence shortly and programmes for steel fixers and concrete workers are set to come on stream next year.

THE professional areas of the construction industry are also seeing an increase in job opportunities and many qualified surveyors, engineers and architects working abroad have been able to find jobs in Ireland in recent times.

But everyone is cautious about the long term prospects.

Most engineers have seen a cycle of several booms and slumps in their careers," says Donal Lynch who is president of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland.

Mechanical, electrical, electronic and software engineering are all buoyant areas and are set to be so for the foreseeable future. In slump periods it is difficult for newly-qualified engineers to obtain jobs, he says, but once they have gained experience they have little difficulty finding employment.

Similary, recent employment opportunities in surveying have largely been taken by returned emigrants, says Michael Walsh, who is chairman of the Association of Young Chartered Surveyors.

"Things are good now, but we've no guarantee that this country will be able to maintain the present level of surveyors. However, they will be able to get jobs abroad."

Meanwhile, employment rates in the property sector, which is also cyclical, can vary by up to 30 per cent, according to Alan Cooke who is chief executive of the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute.

"In bad times people do get laid off, salaries are adjusted and people work on a commission only basis," he says.

Although 1996 property sales are up by 30 per cent on last year in terms of volume, this is unlikely to be repeated in the foreseeable future. "The general consensus is that the market has peaked - in May and June," he says.

And while recent college graduates have found it easy to obtain jobs, the situation may be somewhat different in three or four years time, he warns.