The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) thanks in-scope employers for taking the time to fill out its Workforce Census after it achieved a record response rate.
The ECITB has received data from 188 establishments, achieving a 63.5% response rate, up from 50% in 2021.
Three years ago, the ECITB Workforce Census collected data on almost 50% of the workforce, but this figure has been massively surpassed this time with 85.3% of the workforce covered.
The significant response will enable the ECITB to build a clearer picture of future labour needs in the engineering construction industry (ECI) as data from the Census directly feeds into the Labour Forecasting Tool (LFT).
Thanks to the record response rate, the ECITB will be able to provide more precise, up-to-date data to improve its tool and make predictions on future workforce trends and labour demands for the benefit of industry.
“We would like to thank ECI employers for taking the time to fill out the 2024 Workforce Census, it’s greatly appreciated.
“The significant increase in response rate is great to see and demonstrates the good relationship the ECITB maintains with its in-scope employers and the trust they place in us.
“Industry will benefit from this high-quality database for the next three years. The Census data will help inform training interventions and ensure accurate representation of industry in our discussions with governments and other partners.
“Having access to more detailed data from our Labour Forecasting Tool will also help industry build a clearer picture of future labour needs to address skills shortages and create more certainty to inform decision-making processes.”
Andrew Hockey
Chief Executive, ECITB
Analysing Workforce Census insights
The ECITB conducts the Census every three years to provide an up-to-date and detailed snapshot of the ECI, with employers providing information on workforce numbers by occupation, sector and location.
The last Workforce Census, which collected data on 45,351 workers across 1,360 locations, warned of future labour shortages, given the industry’s ageing workforce and the recruitment difficulties facing many employers.
For the 2024 Census, employers were asked to fill out an online survey between 13 May and 30 June.
The Census questionnaire was divided into:
- Occupational data: Employers were asked how many people they employ, in which occupations, where and in which sectors.
- Demographics: This asked for data on age, gender, ethnicity, disability and nationality.
- Three-year outlook: This section included questions on expected workforce growth, business opportunities by sector and hiring challenges.
The ECITB’s research team will now get to work analysing the extensive amount of data gathered from the questionnaire database.
Reports on the findings of the Census, including sectoral and regional views, will be published from January 2025 and will be anonymised and aggregated.
