July 2020
Featured in this insight: Construction
Survey reveals 54% of construction companies still recruiting as sector shows signs of recovery: A survey of construction workers and bosses has found that as the sector shows signs of recovery from the COVID-19 lockdown, more than half the companies polled are seeking new talent.
The Randstad survey questioned more than 700 employees and 130 employers in a bid to analyse the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the sector.
As well as the 54% still hiring new workers, 30% said they have plans to recruit more permanent staff in the next six months, while 15% are looking to recruit temporary workers.
Eight in ten employers reported that their construction sites are now operational (80%), with just over a third saying they are running between 80% and 100%.
Asked when they believed their company would be operating at full capacity as they were before the COVID-19 crisis, just over a fifth (22%) said by Q3 2020, while almost two fifths (39%) said by the end of 2020 they could be back to pre-covid levels.
However, the findings were not as positive when it comes to site safety. The survey revealed a disconnect between workers and employees when it comes to perceptions around safety measures. The research found that while nine out of ten (92%) employers said they are confident that they are providing staff with sufficient PPE items, just over a third of employees (35%) feel the PPE provided is not adequate to allow them to carry out their roles confidently.
Similarly, while 85% of employees feel that social distancing measures are adequate, this is in contrast to just 25% employers feeling the same.
Just over a fifth of employers polled said they have recruited COVID-19 supervisors, while fewer than a quarter have put measures in place to enforce social distancing and hygiene rules.
View more of our sector specific insights: Construction
