The shrinking Project Management Talent Pool in the UK Consultancy market - Where else should you look?

In recent weeks there has been a lot of press surrounding the reduction of available skilled workers in the Construction Industry in the UK. This is impacting all corners of the industry and poses the question - Where else can companies look to resource talent?

Focusing solely on the Project Management market, our Managing Director, James, has seen a fluctuation in the technical and professional backgrounds of candidates joining Project Management consultancies.

We asked James about the challenges that companies face attracting talent in todays marketplace, the solutions that some clients have been implementing and the benefits of having a diverse workforce. Here is what he had to say:

The Project Management recruitment market has changed significantly in recent years due to a number of different reasons both from within the industry and external factors such as Brexit and the recent Pandemic.

There has always been a constant flow of candidates relocating from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Americas who have wanted to be involved in the UK Construction industry given it's global status. Brexit has made the move more complicated due to restriction in "Free Movement" and those now trying to enter the market require sponsorship, which only a handful of Consultants offer in the UK given the associated costs. We have started to see a strong return from Australia and New Zealand due to the post pandemic era and also the change in the Youth Visa for those aged 30 or younger who can now spend 3 years in the UK without requiring sponsorship from a UK entity.

COVID introduced the "Hybrid Working" model and this remains a strong topic for debate. The general workforce has now adopted to the "New Normal" of being able to work 2 days per week from home. Whilst some firms believe in this model, most of which are SME and Boutique consultancies, the leading players in the Project Management market have started to reduce this flexibility and encouraged staff back to the office as they have seen a slow down in career progression and direct impact on company culture. Although the industry is slowing moving back to what we had been used to for many years, the younger people working in the industry seem to be a little more reluctant to return having only known office life post-covid.

The rising cost of living in London has also had an impact with general wages not rising quickly enough and forcing part of the work force to look at more lucrative opportunities in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

With approximately 140 Project Management Consultancies operating in London, the talent pool is relatively small and highly competitive for those entering the recruitment market.

Over the last 2 years, 1 in 3 candidates placed in Project Management consultanices have come from an alternate part of the Property and Construction Industry - Architects, Engineering Consultancies, Main Contractors, Planning Consultants, Sub Contractors, Public Sector Bodies and specialist Design Management firms. This is something that I anticipate to continue with the ratio becoming closer to 50:50. Consultancies have become a lot more diverse in terms of skillset and clients are now appointing Consultants at earlier stages of projects. Rather than being one dimensional in their delivery they now have very well equipped teams that can cover all areas of the consultant teams appointed on schemes.

One of the biggest issues is that areas such as Contracting have typically paid more than Consultancy, the same goes for the Developer world, however the Architect, Engineering and Public Sector seem to be behind in average pay making a move to a Consultant a more attractive proposition.

A longstanding client made the point recently that, personality and people skills are equally as important as technical ability. Having a diverse workforce not only makes your business more adaptable to the range of clients we deal with, but it also gives balance across the team where everybody is able to continue learning. This can't be taught, but the technical element of Project Management can.

With the second half of the year looming and with Interest rate levels looking to fall, there seems to be optimism that firms will get back to hiring strategically as opposed to reactionary. I won't mention the General Election, that's a different discussion altogether!

Firms, need to start to look at the value add that those in alternate parts of the industry can bring with them. We would all love to be able to hire the perfect candidate that is MRICS, MCIOB, MAPM and having worked across every sector but in this market being open to the idea that other corners of the industry are full of talented people, it may be that firms start to look at these industries closely to attract talent. Waiting too long to hire will only cause you issues internally and put you at the risk of losing staff.

My advice is to be open to meeting candidates with different career paths and think about how diverse the skill set is across your team and lastly where your own clients may be benefit from a more diverse workforce.