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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

UK construction and transportation jobs boom as government forecasts £116bn infrastructure spend over next 5 years

The Indeed UK monthly employment index analyses data available exclusively on the Indeed website to serve as a gauge of how key industries are performing across the UK. Analysing growth trends on both a monthly and yearly basis, Indeed sources specific information around the number of job postings advertised across the UK at any given time, the jobs available within each industry, and which areas of the UK serve as employment hubs for various industries.

In line with declining national unemployment rates, July data from Indeed shows that the availability of jobs in the UK has increased across all sectors since July 2013. However, these increases have been consistently highest in the construction and transportation sectors, coinciding with the recent Government announcement that over £100bn is to be invested in projects within these strategically important sectors over the next 5 years.

Industry Employment Trends

Top growth industries (month on month) – change compared to June 2014

  1. 1. Construction (up 8%)
  2. 2. Transportation (up 8%)
  3. 3. Real Estate (up 4%)
  4. 4. Healthcare (up 1%)
  5. 5. Manufacturing (up 1%)

Top growth industries (year on year) – change compared to July 2013

  1. 1. Real Estate (up 46%)
  2. 2. Transportation (up 41%)
  3. 3. Education (up 35%)
  4. 4. Construction (up 33%)
  5. 5. Hospitality (up 32%)

Key stats:

  • Job postings have increased across all sectors compared to July 2013
  • All sectors excluding HR, Retail and Education have experienced growth when compared to June 2014
  • Overall, the Retail sector had the highest number of job postings in July 2014, with 156,398 positions available
  • The Construction and Transportation sectors collectively experienced the highest growth rates, featuring in both the yearly and monthly growth figures
  • Outside of London, Aberdeen, Manchester and Birmingham emerged as the largest UK employment hubs for the construction, transportation and real estate industries


Commentary from David Rudick, VP International Markets, Indeed.com

“It’s no surprise that the Transportation and Construction sectors feature consistently in the top five growth sectors in this month’s index. With significant infrastructure spend mapped out for the next 5 years by the UK government, the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) have predicted a 2.9% growth rate across the construction sector across this period, with KPMG additionally reporting that transport projects will dominate construction spend at around £66.2bn.

Given this enormous investment in infrastructure, it’s worrying that these industries are reportedly the worst affected by the skills shortage. Indeed data shows a staggering 33% year on year increase for construction jobs posted in July 2014, reaching a total of 118,541.  With large projects such as HS2, Westfield’s £1 billion expansion at Shepherds Bush and the national road network all in the pipeline, there is critical need provide supply the talent to meet with this demand.

Real Estate also emerged as the top growth sector this month, with the number of available job postings up 4% from June 2014 and 46% compared to this time last year. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply has revealed that house building accelerated at its fastest pace in July for more than a decade; the highest since November 2003. Within Real Estate, the top keyword search term in July was “quantity surveyor”, reflecting a knock-on effect of the boom in the construction sector.”