According to the State of Trade Survey Q3 2024 report, the FMB revealed declines across employee numbers, workloads and enquiries.

At the same time continually rising costs have put the industry under greater pressure.

In the third quarter, workloads were down 7% from the preceding quarter with 32% of FMB members reporting a decline in activity. Enquiries were also down 3% over this period.

The research has highlighted particularly challenging issues with construction’s skills shortage dilemma.

In the third quarter, the number of construction employees fell 23% with FMB members now reporting greater difficulty finding skilled workers in several disciplines.

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In the survey, 35% of respondents said they were struggling to hire carpenters with 28% having difficulty finding bricklayers. It has also been a challenge to recruit roofers and painters for 16% and 13% of FMB members, respectively.

As such, 38% of FMB members have reported skills shortages have led to job delays.

With 65% of FMB members indicating rising costs are leading to them having to raise prices, and over half (54%) reporting lower profits or even losses as a result, FMB CEO Brian Berry is calling on the government to provide more support for the sector.

“The government missed a key opportunity in the October Budget to announce serious funding to tackle the skills crisis in Britain while tax rises, such as the increase to employers’ National Insurance contributions, creates additional barriers with firms already struggling to recruit staff,” said Brian.

“The government needs to prioritise boosting construction skills if it is serious about having a high-quality construction industry capable of delivering the ambitious housebuilding targets it has set out.”