Pole positions

Just starting out in your career or looking for a new challenge? Recruiter Richard Gelder highlights four of the most in-demand roles in the built environment.

Project managers and quantity surveyors

Despite the recent contraction in construction output, both project managers and quantity surveyors continue to be in short supply, according to Richard Gelder, director of construction and property at recruiter Hays. Right now there is no let-up in demand for those people,’ the number of people compared with the level of demand. It’s certainly the case that, in some of the UK’s regional markets, such as the West Midlands, north-west and Leeds, demand is very high.’

Estates surveyors and maintenance surveyors

There is huge demand for both estates and maintenance surveyors at the moment, Gelder reports. Counter-intuitively, given the cutbacks sustained by local authorities over the past 10 years, demand is being led by the public sector. As austerity has bitten, the public sector has really started to look at how they make up the shortfall in funding and for a lot of them it has come back to what they have lots of, which is often buildings and land,’ says Gelder. ‘What you’ve seen is a lot of work around unused assets and how they can be strategically realigned.’

BIM managers and related roles

It has been a hot topic in construction for some years now, so it is no surprise that experts in BIM are in high demand. If you look over the last two to three years, BIM has really settled down and has become part of the picture, whether you’re a contractor or a consultant,’ says Gelder. ‘As BIM continues to evolve and just becomes best practice, it’s very much a key area of demand, whether you are a BIM manager – which is a role that has only existed for a few years – or someone coming in who can use the technology.’

 Experts in advanced building management

As priorities in the built environment shift ever-more towards environmental responsibility, those professionals who have developed an expertise in advanced building management systems are needed more than ever. They are typically mechanical and electrical (M&E) engineers by background,’ says Gelder. ‘With building management systems, that is related directly to sustainability and energy efficiency. They are becoming totemic issues in the industry and that is only going to go in one direction.’

How do we start closing the industry’s skills gap?

Most of our Twitter followers felt the solution lies in better training, but they were split on whether it should be aimed at up-skilling the current workforce, or using it to inspire the next generation while they’re still young.

 

 

Poll undertaken for RICS Modus Magazine in September 2019.

Supporting in-work training

The majority of RICS courses allow you to study at convenient times, alongside your day job. This means you can immediately embed the skills and techniques you learn.

 

Article first published in RICS Modus Magazine September 2019
Excerpt from Training courses 2020 catalogue