EU Skills Panorama 2014
December 2014
ANALYTICAL HIGHLIGHT
• The number of building trades workers grew by a small
amount from 2003 to 2013, but fell as a percentage of
EU-28 employment.
35%
• Since 2008, there has been a large fall in the level of build-
ing trades employment. In spite of this, a large number of
EU-28 countries report recruitment difficulties, especially for
carpenters, joiners, plumbers and pipe fitters.
▼Figure 1b – Building trades workers’
share of total employment, EU-28, 2013
• Recruitment difficulties are reported, partly due to the male
dominated image of these occupations.
• Building trades workers is the only craft and related trade
occupation forecast to grow over the next decade. Growth is
expected at the highly-qualified end of the group and within
the business and other services sector specifically.
What do they do?
Building trades workers1 are a group of
skilled manual workers that encompasses
a wide variety of jobs, including building
frame workers (such as house builders
and bricklayers), building finishers (such
as roofers and plumbers), painters and
building structure cleaners. Skills and tasks
vary widely across these occupational subgroups.
Building frame workers typically construct
and repair buildings and foundations, erect
walls and brick structures, as well as shape
stone for building and other purposes. Building finishers carry out a broad range of tasks
in already-erected buildings, including roof
Agenda for new
skills and jobs
Source: Cedefop forecasts (2014)
Building trades workers
▼Figure 1a – Building trades workers’
share of craft and related trades workers
occupational group, EU-28, 2013
4%
covering, floor laying, framing of glass in
windows and installing insulation, plumbing and piping systems. Painters usually
prepare surfaces, apply paint to buildings,
vehicles or manufactured articles and cover
interior walls with wallpaper. Finally, building structure cleaners clean chimneys and
the exterior surfaces of buildings and other
structures2.
Source: Cedefop forecasts (2014)
PROSPECTS FOR
EU Skills Panorama 2014
Building trades workers
Employment outlook
▼Table 1 – Share of Building trades workers by qualification level
compared to all occupations, EU-28, 2013
In 2013, building trades workers accounted for 4% of total EU-28 employment (around nine million workers) and 35% of the wider craft and
related trades3 occupational group (see Figures 1a and 1b). Their share
of total EU-28 employment has declined marginally over the last decade
(from 4.1% in 2003).
Low
Medium
High
Building trades workers
35.5%
59.7%
4.7%
All occupations
21.2%
48.1%
30.7%
Source: Cedefop forecasts (2014)
From 2003 to 2013, the overall number of building trades workers only
increased by around 1%, which is well below the EU-28 average for all
occupations. However, this picture is somewhat deceptive, hiding the fact
that there was substantial growth from 2003 to 2008 (13%) followed
by a large fall in employment to 2013 (-11%) as the recession hit. While
most occupational groups were affected in some way by the recession,
building trades workers were especially vulnerable to the acute shortterm impact of the recession on the construction sector in many EU-28
countries.
A look into the future
From 2013 to 2025, the number of building trades workers is forecast
to rise by 4%. It is the only craft and related trades occupation expected
to increase in size. As a result, building trades workers are predicted to
increase their share of total EU-28 employment (see Figure 2).
Much of the growth is forecast outside of the traditional construction
sector. Building trades worker employment in the business and other
services sector is predicted to more than double in size from 2013 to
2025, continuing the trend seen in the previous decade. This means that
while the business and other services sector accounted for less than 3%
of buildings trade worker employment in 2003, by 2025 it is expected to
relate to nearly 15% of employment. Jobs growth is also expected in the
manufacturing and distribution sectors.
This impact has been felt by all building trades. From 2011 to 2012,
building frames and related trades workers saw the largest decline in
employment of any occupational group, and the second largest fall in
hirings4. Decline in employment was particularly apparent in Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Building finishers and related trades jobs were also in the top-25 occupations for employment
and hirings decline; notably so in Greece, Spain and Portugal. Painters,
building structure cleaners and related trades were amongst the top-25
occupations for hirings decline.
▼Figure 2 – Future share of Building trades workers, EU-28
Despite recent declining employment, many countries are also experiencing recruitment difficulties in relation to building trades workers5. In eight
countries – Austria, France, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Portugal and
Romania – building trades workers are among the top-10 occupations for
recruitment difficulties. Specific difficulties are noted in relation to recruiting carpenters/joiners and plumbers/pipe fitters. Just over three quarters
of reported recruitment difficulties involved gender-related issues due to
the non-gender neutral image of these occupations. This is an important
factor in the existence of bottlenecks among building and related trades
workers, excluding electricians6.
4.20%
4.10%
4.00%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Source: Cedefop forecasts (2014)
Over 650,000 newly-created building trades worker jobs are forecast
between 2013 and 2025. This is more than twice the rate of expansion
for all occupations (8% versus 3%). A further three million job openings
are expected from the need to replace people who leave their jobs due
to retirement or for other reasons.
In 2013, three quarters of building trades workers worked in the construction sector, with many of the remainder working in manufacturing
(11%) or the business and other services sector (6%). The pattern of
rising then falling building trades employment over the last decade is
mirrored in most sectors. In the construction sector, for example, this
meant that buildings trade employment rose by only 1.4% from 2003
to 2013 (slightly above the 0.9% growth in employment of all buildings
trade workers). The exception to this pattern was building trades worker
employment in the business and other services sector, which increased
by 33% from 2003-08 and then by 63% in the period to 2013.
Future prospects are mixed at country level. It is estimated that 16 countries will expand their overall number of building trades workers, while
12 countries will not. In almost all countries, the need to replace workers
who leave due to retirement or for other reasons will mean that some
job openings are forecast irrespective of the changing size of the building
trades workforce (Belgium is the exception to this). Figure 3 shows that
building trades workers are expected to account for 4% of total EU-28
job openings from 2013 and 2025, and nearly 10% of all job openings
in Poland.
Building trades workers typically hold medium level qualifications, although a third of workers are only qualified at low level (see Table 1).
Over the last decade, there has been a 9% growth in the share of building trades workers qualified at medium level, with a corresponding fall
in the share of workers with only low level qualifications.
The share of building trades workers with low level qualifications is set
to continue to decline. While recent expansion has largely been at the
medium level of qualification, it is the share of highly-qualified building
trades workers that is expected to grow in the period to 2025 (from 5%
of the EU-28 building trades workforce in 2013 to 9% in 2025).
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EU Skills Panorama 2014
Building trades workers
Skills challenges
▼Figure 3 – Share of Building workers in total job openings by
country, EU-28, 2013-2025
Building trades workers require a range of job specific skills, generic
skills, personal attributes and abilities:
Poland
Italy
Lithuania
Malta
Croatia
Finland
Ireland
Estonia
Greece
Czech Republic
Spain
United Kingdom
Latvia
EU-28
Slovakia
Sweden
Denmark
Portugal
Bulgaria
Netherlands
Hungary
Cyprus
Germany
France
Luxembourg
Slovenia
Austria
Romania
Belgium
• Job-specific skills: The skilled occupations within the building trades
require job-specific skills that are usually acquired through an apprenticeship or similar training programme that mixes a formal training environment with work application and experience. In the past,
these job-specific skills would primarily be applied in construction;
but, increasingly, there is a focus on maintenance and repair skills as
well. Job-specific skills include: understanding and operating tools and
equipment; understanding materials; and applying skills with accuracy
and precision on-site and in differing situations.
• Generic job skills: Individual building trades workers often work
alongside others; so, generic skills such as time management, team
working and team communication are important. The ability to monitor the self-performance and the performance of others is also a
priority. Similarly, quality control analysis is an important aspect of
managing the ‘supply chain’ in order to evaluate quality and performance and to make improvements or take corrective action7 8.
• Work organisation: Self-employment has increased significantly
within the building and related trades, requiring the adoption of
self-business and work organisation skills9.
• Physical skills: Manual dexterity and co-ordination, visualisation and
physical strength/stamina are important skills and attributes in these
trades.
• IT skills: Increasingly, ICTs are becoming embedded in tools and
equipment, as well as in the materials used in buildings construction,
maintenance and repair. This not only relates to the power and efficiency of tools and materials, but also to design, quality assurance
and diagnostics10 11.
9.4%
7.2%
6.4%
6.3%
4.9%
4.8%
4.5%
4.4%
4.2%
4.1%
3.9%
3.9%
3.9%
3.5%
3.4%
2.9%
2.8%
2.7%
2.5%
2.1%
2.1%
2.1%
2.0%
1.6%
1.3%
1.1%
0.8%
0.5%
-0.2%
Source: Cedefop forecasts (2014).
(including heating, ventilation and air conditioning). New approaches
to training have been identified to meet these requirements, including
adapting training content for craftspeople (e-learning, practice oriented,
short duration, winter or evening courses)15 16. ■
On-going changes in work organisation, tools and materials and technology are likely to impact on the skills required by building trades workers in the future. The use of advanced electronic machinery requires
increased levels of technological competence across the board. The
development of technologies for smart buildings and energy reduction
is also intensifying the need for ICT skills in construction. Robotics will
increasingly become a feature of the building trade12. Construction methods increasingly have a significant off-site component. This is requiring
training for new skills on-site (e.g. installation), as well as demand for
trades in a factory setting. This is bringing a more widespread need for
higher levels of computer aided design (CAD) skills14.
Defined as ISCO-08 Group 71 Building and related trades workers, excluding electricians
International Labour Organization (2012), International standard classification of occupations structure, group definitions and correspondence tables: ISC-08 Volume 1
3 ISCO Major Occupational Group 7 – craft and related trades workers
4 European Commission (2014), European vacancy and recruitment report
5 European Commission (2014), Mapping and analysing bottleneck vacancies in EU labour
markets: Final overview report
6 European Commission (2014), Mapping and analysing bottleneck vacancies in EU labour
markets: Final overview report
7 National Board of Education & RIL, Finland (2012), Skills needs in the real estate and
building sector
8 Danish Technological Institute (2009), Future qualifications and skills needed in construction
9 Danish Building Research Institute and the Ministry of Education (2012) , Energy competencies within vocational education in construction
10 AMS Skills Barometer (2013), Austria
11 Methodological Centre for Vocational Education and Training (2008), Study of the construction sector: research report on skill need
12 CITB (2013), 2020 Vision – The Future of UK Construction
13 CITB (2013), 2020 Vision – The Future of UK Construction
14 Cedefop and International Labour Organization (2010), Skills for green jobs: European
synthesis report
15 European Commission (2008), Communication staff working document: Accompanying
document to the proposal for a recast of the energy performance of buildings directive
(2002/91/EC) - Impact assessment
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Environment and energy efficiency drivers are already impacting substantially on the building trades. The trend towards constructing new
‘green’ buildings or retrofitting existing buildings requires building trades
workers to also have a better grasp of environmentally-friendly materials and technologies that are energy-efficient or greener. For example,
the creation of zero/low carbon homes requires the development of specialist and technical skills that the existing workforce may be lacking.
The occupations with highest number of workers needing skills upgrading
in the ‘green’ context include: electricians; plumbers (including installers of heat pump boilers, biogas systems, central heating, sanitary and
thermic equipment); carpenters and joiners; bricklayers; and technicians
Please quote this Analytical Highlight as:
EU Skills Panorama (2014) Building trades workers Analytical Highlight,
prepared by ICF and Cedefop for the European Commission
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