Staff Challenges As Prosperity Replaces Austerity

Construction consultancies which pared staffing levels to the bone at the height of the recession, are now finding themselves at capacity as the economic climate starts to improve, according to HBPW’s Geoenvironmental Engineer, Jay Fox.

The result is that demand for professional staff is now on the increase as large and small consultancies, particularly those working for bigger clients like local authorities, struggle to resource checking teams charged with approving contractor designs.

“This, in turn, leads to delays in the approval process which then manifests itself in delays to construction programmes, so the knock on effect is considerable. It is so ironic and, at times, it seems difficult for everyone to strike a happy balance. On the one hand companies have needed to keep costs under control whilst, on the other, retain enough slack in the system to allow for rapid uptake of their resource,” said Jay.

He said that geotechnical and environmental testing laboratories, in particular, had been swamped with soil samples as developer activity had rapidly increased in recent months.

“Planning authorities are also reporting that they have been inundated with new planning applications and, due to recent downsizing, are now likely to be struggling to process these in a timely fashion,” he added.

Then there was the added pressure of recruitment consultancies trying to poach staff to move them from one company to another as organisations try to recruit the best staff.

“Companies like HBPW are always busy and, consequently, eternally on the lookout for good staff which, in turn, effects the employment market,” he said. “With a smaller practice it is not about ‘bums on seats’ but attracting highly competent, flexible staff who are passionate about what they do,” added Jay.