Construction Jobs Protection Scheme Launched

A new Construction Talent Retention Scheme is set to launch later this month (July), announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak after he unveiled a plan to pay businesses a £1,000 bonus for every furloughed member of staff that they reemploy.

An online portal can be used to redeploy staff members at risk of redundancy and make temporary employee loans available between companies, Inside Housing reports.

The idea is that displaced workers will be matched up with businesses looking to hire new staff, a model that has proven to safeguard talent in both the automotive and aerospace sectors. It will also serve as an additional route to finding new employment for those in other industries that have been made redundant.

The Construction Leadership Council has lent its support to the scheme, with co-chair Andy Mitchell saying: “This is a great example of what we can achieve when we work collaboratively with government, and we look forward to continuing in this spirit when the proposals and recommendations of our broader Roadmap to Recovery [plan] are published.”

A kickstart scheme was also announced by the chancellor, which will see employers paid to create jobs for those aged between 16 and 24, and who are at direct risk of long-term unemployment.

This comes as the latest IHS Markit/CIPS construction index revealed that activity in June grew at the fastest pace in more than two years, rebounding from 28.9 in May to 55.3 – well above the 50 threshold for growth.

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