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CAREERS | HAYS SALARY SURVEY ITS NOT JUST ABOUT THE MONEY The skills shortage in building services persists, and if companies want to attract talent they will need to offer more than financial incentives, finds the 2023 Hays Salary Survey. David Blackman looks at the must-have perks for engineers T he UK has avoided a recession just according to the GDP figures for the last quarter of 2022. Construction and property reflect this guarded picture, judging by the latest sector jobs and salary survey, which was carried out last autumn by recruitment consultancy Hays for CIBSE Journal. Just over half (57%) of construction and property employers expected their organisations performance to improve in 2023. This is down on the previous years figure of 71%, but is more positive than may have been expected given the bearish economic backdrop. Just over a third (37%) of employers predicted their organisations performance will stay the same over the next 12 months. Despite the headwinds affecting the economy, Aecoms work is holding up pretty well, says John Lewis, head of building engineering for UK & Ireland. While there is caution, certainly for the next two quarters at least, everybodys still very, very busy, he says. Wayne Eustace, director at engineers CPW, agrees: We have a very positive order book in the coming months. Long-held concerns around skills shortages have become more acute though over the past year. Almost all (95%) construction and property employers reported skills shortages, compared with 92% in the previous year, according to the report. The skills crisis is hitting firms ability to deliver projects (40%) and productivity (54%). FairHeat has almost doubled in size since this time last year after recruiting around a dozen new staff, including 10 graduate engineers 28 March 2023 www.cibsejournal.com over six months. However Tom Naughton, the specialist heat networks engineers managing director, admits that the company still has a huge issue with skill shortages. Even after winning small company Employer of the Year in last years CIBSE awards, FairHeat still struggles to recruit experienced engineers. There are so few people spread among so many organisations that demand is massively outweighing supply, he says. Recruiting young engineers leaves the company at risk of becoming bottom heavy, says Naughton. The biggest skill gap is in people with five years experience in the sector who can manage projects and teams. Its a huge commitment financially, spending all that time and resources investing in people and getting them skilled up, and then another organisation could come along and just offer them a bit more money, he says. However, FairHeats investment in training is paying off, with some reaching the point where they can take on the kind of managerial roles for which there is a shortage of candidates, says Naughton. The level of