According to surveys, 75% of contractors have trouble finding skilled operatives, while 96% of supply chain firms are affected by labour shortages. As the UK construction industry continues to feel pressure to ensure on-time and on-budget delivery, light steel framing's innovative use of new technology and digital software supports a whole new skill set. The Light Steel Frame Association (LSFA) spoke with Mark Munns, CEO of Frameclad, about how light steel can benefit contractors struggling with the labour gap.
"Production of light gauge steel framing solutions has shifted considerably in the last decade. Manufacturing now requires far less labour and relies more on automated processes managed by skilled operatives. This can be of significant advantage to developers looking to achieve quality systems without the dependence on a vast labour force. The fact that we can provide faster, simpler installation with the requirement for less skilled workers on site has benefits not only in terms of cost but in improved productivity and safety. Fewer people on site means less risk of incident and disruption to the build. We are offering something precision-engineered and turning to technology allows us to offer something highly specialised and project-specific. What might have taken an entire team several weeks if not months to complete is now quicker, safer, and more cost-effective.
But this does not mean highly trained operatives are no longer needed. Quite the opposite, in fact. We are looking at a generation of new workers coming into this industry with more extensive digital and technical knowledge, creating a cross-over of skills across multiple generations.
We can offer a more comprehensive structural system through experienced engineers working alongside digital experts to improve design and integrate new technology into our production processes. We might not be using as much manual labour to create the physical system, but we are seeing opportunities expanding in other fields, such as design, testing, and environmental management – there is still a requirement for the human element within that. This is a question of meeting in the middle and finding the balance between making productivity and safety gains and ensuring we are cultivating a workforce that can offer second-to-none pre and post-installation support. We need to think of our workforce in the same way as we do the systems we offer – the sum of many parts, working with synergy. I think as a sector, light gauge steel framing is leading the way in that aspect.”
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