The Government’s technical education reforms raise a basic question: which careers are young people encouraged to consider?
Our Managing Partner, Andrew Bridge, believes the Prime Minister’s reforms should recognise surveying and property-related roles alongside the technical careers already receiving greater attention to help meet the country’s housing, energy and infrastructure ambitions.
The Prime Minister is right to challenge the idea that university should be the default route for every young person. Britain needs more technical skills if it is to build the homes, infrastructure and energy networks the country depends on.
The debate has so far concentrated mainly on the people who physically build projects. Far less has been said about the specialists whose work allows construction to begin.
At Fisher German, we have changed the way we introduce young people to surveying because we have seen how little awareness there is of the profession. Many school and college leavers know what electricians, plumbers and bricklayers do, but have never heard of land rights specialists, geomatics surveyors or infrastructure surveyors.
Young people are unlikely to choose careers they have never encountered or had properly explained to them.
The Government’s housing and infrastructure ambitions rely on far more than construction workers. Long before construction starts, specialists help purchase land, survey sites, value property and negotiate access. They also help projects through planning and legal requirements while dealing with the interests of landowners, developers and other parties.
There are technical aspects to these careers, but they rarely feature prominently in discussions about the skills shortage.
Housing schemes can take longer to come forward when there are not enough people with this expertise, no matter how many builders are trained.
Energy projects may be delayed while land rights are secured, while infrastructure programmes become harder and more expensive to progress. Continued delays can also affect investor confidence.
However, modern surveying involves a lot of things that should interest curious young people. Many professionals now use drones, digital mapping, geospatial data and modelling software as part of their work. Others negotiate access for nationally significant infrastructure projects that will make the country greener.
The work requires technical knowledge and practical judgement, but it remains largely invisible to many young people deciding what to do after school.
The government reforms can help, but the property sector as a whole needs to do its bit as well to sell surveying to young people.
We need to get into schools and explain the broad range of work surveyors can do in their careers.
It is partly why Fisher German has moved away from asking new recruits to choose a specialism as soon as they join. Early careers colleagues are introduced to different areas of the business, including infrastructure, rural property, development, property management and renewable energy, before deciding where they want to focus.
For example, someone at the beginning of their career might help secure land for an electricity transmission project and later spend time with colleagues managing commercial property. They can then make a more informed decision about the area in which they want to specialise.
Closing this skills gap will need to be a joint effort between the property sector and the Government.
Burnham should ensure his technical education reforms cover all the careers needed to build homes and progress infrastructure and energy projects.
Britain will not solve its housing shortage or deliver the infrastructure necessary for economic growth simply by training more people to build. It also needs the people who secure land, navigate planning, manage property and provide the technical expertise required to turn plans into completed projects.
Training more people for construction will achieve little if there are not enough specialists to take on the crucial work that happens behind the scenes of every major project.