Thousands to lose jobs in construction industry, forecasts FMB

Posted under General by Alan

Everyday news of suspension of productions, job losses and closures are making headlines in newspapers and on TV news channels. Construction industry in the UK is no exception; it failed to shield itself from ill effects of credit crunch and slowdown in economy.

Prevailing financial uncertainties in the UK and worldwide have led the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) to forecast that  job loss in construction industry could reach 90,000 figure in first 6 months of this year.

The organisation, which recently conducted a trade survey on SMEs in the construction industry, revealed that over 50% of companies have made their employees redundant in last 3 months, while 52% are planning further redundancies in next 6 months.

Survey also points out that more than 50% of FMB members had reported sharp decline in workloads for the 4th consecutive quarter. Picture continues to be bleak with 60% still anticipating more fall in workloads in the first quarter of this year.

FMB director general, Richard Diment, termed these figures as ‘devastating’ and demanded immediate action from Government to prevent further fall in construction work.

Diment feels that Government’s recent package of £20m loan to SME sector will help in addressing only part of the problem, and more needed to be done to pull construction industry out of deep crises.