The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) has published its new strategy, Leading Industry Learning, outlining how it will help to address skills shortages and support industry growth.
The five-year plan, from 2026 to 2030, outlines a strategy to develop the skills needed to deliver critical infrastructure across Great Britain.
The ECITB forecasts that 40,000 additional workers could be needed for major projects, including those related to net zero, by 2030. This would place industry employers in direct competition for labour from £531bn of infrastructure projects in the wider UK economy.
To reflect the evolving priorities of the engineering construction industry, the strategy includes insights from employers, training providers, asset owners, government, trade unions and other industry bodies.
Lynda Armstrong, chair of ECITB’s employer-led board, said: “The engineering construction industry and its supply chain companies engineer, project manage and install much of the critical infrastructure required across Great Britain.
“Our new strategy sets out how the ECITB will rise to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and fast-changing external environment and deliver positive, long-term outcomes for our levy payers, the wider workforce and the country.
“Our approach aligns with the UK government’s mission-driven focus – particularly its goal to transition to clean power and stimulate sustainable economic growth in doing so.
“Moving to a five-year strategy cycle reflects our determination to drive long-term outcomes through significant interventions that can deliver lasting impact.”
Deliver, grow and transform
The new strategy aims to help industry address the skills gap and prepare for a boom in project activity by focusing on three pillars:
- Supporting employers and delivering quality training products and qualifications that meet industry needs as well as robust labour market intelligence to enable better workforce planning.
- Growing the number of new entrants joining the industry and helping employers access a broader, more diverse talent pool. There will also be a focus on workforce retention, supporting upskilling, reskilling and competence assurance.
- Transforming skills through strategic investment in regional hubs, harnessing new technologies, modular and blended learning and driving a collaborative approach.
Andrew Hockey, CEO of the ECITB, said: “Our mission to lead industry learning has never been more important than it is now.
“Achieving the outcomes from this strategy will require collaboration and commitment well beyond the ECITB alone.
“We will continue to support our employers through grant funding for mission-critical training. At the same time, we will build upon investments like our Regional Skills Hub funding to address systemic and structural challenges facing the engineering construction industry.”
The ECITB will present further details of the new strategy along with levy proposals for the 2025 levy consensus at a series of regional forums throughout October.
All levy paying employers are invited to participate in the formal consultation process on the board’s levy proposals.
Every three years, the ECITB is required by law to consult on levy rates for the following three-year period. The next consultation will take place in October.
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