Given what seem like never-ending concerns about virus mutations and post-Brexit impacts, it is very easy to forget some of the somewhat quieter, longer-term and more pernicious challenges facing our industry. But it’s not just the big crises that hurt us – the slow burn stuff can also cause lasting damage, and one of the worst of these challenges has to be the skills crisis in the timber engineering industry. Ask any TRA member and they’ll tell you that it’s getting harder to attract and retain good people to drive forward our businesses for the future.
So while recruitment was obviously not at the top of the agenda during much of last year, the TRA knew that the ongoing shortage of skilled workers would not go away. We still must find a way to promote timber engineering to tomorrow’s generation of brilliant CAD technicians, joinery designers and manufacturing experts, and to compete more effectively with every other sector that’s crying out for a strong pipeline of new talent.
Therefore, for us, 2021 is all about continuing our work to increase routes into the industry and to provide relevant training and qualifications to new entrants.
One of the first things we have created is a promotional video celebrating timber engineering careers, together with a supporting package of presentations and other marketing materials. This package is being made available to members to help them with their approaches to schools and colleges, suitable for both online and face-to-face discussions.
Our aim is to help members engage with local students who could apply for work placements or who might consider an apprenticeship in the industry.
Another piece of the package is a leaflet explaining the timber engineering sector, how it contributes to bigger societal and environmental issues such as climate change, the different career routes available, and what training and development we can provide. The online leaflet also includes links to augmented reality models to help illustrate what our sector can achieve. This information is produced in electronic format and can be emailed to any interested students or downloaded from the TRA website or a member’s website.
To support new entrants into the trussed rafter industry, we have also created the industry’s first formal training programme for designers – a framework that supports members’ in-house training initiatives and helps would-be designers get to grips with trussed rafter roofing and metal web floor designs.
Through a series of interactive evidence books, trainee designers can pull together the content they have used to design real world roofs and floors that are manufactured and delivered to site. Using this evidence, they can demonstrate how they are learning the vital skills we need and how they are putting them into practice. Over the next two years the TRA intends to develop seven distinct levels of training that will carry designers from trainee through to fully qualified status.
All TRA training has now been adapted for online delivery, a trend we expect to continue even after social distancing and lockdowns are eased. Through this approach and other initiatives planned for 2021, we hope this year will be one where we can leave behind the firefighting of recent crises and focus on the longer term transformation of our industry through the new people we can attract to work with us.
To find out more, go to www.tra.org.uk/careers.
