Chief Executive’s Blog: Fortifying The Under 40s

Congratulations to BWF Policy Officer Matt Mahony (30) and WITForum Training Manager Dave Campbell (23) for being named in TTJ’s 40 under 40 feature, highlighting the cream of young talent in the timber industries. Congratulations also to our colleagues Rachel Butler (38) and Nick Llewllin (32) from the TTF who were also named.  And congratulations to TTJ editor Mike Jeffree (not as old as you’d think from the greying hair) and his team for a feature which shows that the real ability, enthusiasm for the industry and forward thinking that the younger members of the industry bring. For me (Wii Fit Age 27 it proves the value of investing in youth and development.  Many companies under pressure over the past eighteen months have felt compelled to release apprentices and trainees, and ConstructionSkills has worked hard to find these ‘displaced’ apprentices alternative employers.  But, equally, it is not difficult to find companies who have maintained their commitment. There’s been much discussion of the potential loss of skills within the construction industry as people look for alternative employment outside the depressed market.  The joinery industry still has a visible gap in its age profile in the mid-40s age range, a legacy of the 1980-83 recession, when the apprenticeship system all but collapsed.  Those lost skills were never recovered.  If we are going to be able to take advantage of the recovery when it comes, we have to have the workforce to meet the need.  That means continuing to bring young people into the sector, giving them skills they need for the future, and matching it with the enthusiasm for wood which we all share.