Human Resource Management in Construction Projects by Loosemore Martin Dainty Andrew. Lingard Helen

Author:Loosemore, Martin,Dainty, Andrew.,Lingard, Helen.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published: 2011-07-14T04:00:00+00:00

Ethnic minorities

In the UK ethnic minority groups make up only 1.9 per cent of the industry’s work force, compared to 6.4 per cent of the general working population (CITB/Royal Holloway 1999). Indeed, of the seven major industrial classifications used in the UK, construction has the lowest representation of black and Asian workers. Further analysis reveals that ethnic-minority employees account for under 2 per cent of professionals in the industry. For example, the RICS membership comprises only 0.5 per cent ethnic minorities. These figures define the UK construction sector as a distinctly white-male bastion, and suggest that its historical development and culture have not been accepting of non-traditional entrants, whether they be female or from an ethnic minority. By failing to recruit a workforce that reflects the wider population, the UK construction industry is vulnerable to skills shortages and potentially to developing projects that do not meet the needs of the wider population.

In other countries the opposite problem exists. This is not surprising, because in most countries the construction industry employs a relatively large proportion of the working population and involves a relatively large number of menial and manual jobs, which makes it an attractive target for new immigrants. For example, in Saudi Arabia 30 per cent of the construction workforce is foreign, and in Australia and Singapore the figure is over 80 per cent, presenting managers with a range of potential problems, from communications, through conflict and safety to discrimination (CIDB 1998; MLSA 1998; ABS 1999b). Indeed, countries like Singapore and Australia have traditionally relied on a large immigrant population to meet their labour demands. For example, between 1976 and 2000 1.36 million people migrated to Australia from another country and became employed members of the Australian labour force (ABS 2001). Many of these workers have entered the construction industry, and statistics show that the ratio of construction employees born inside Australia (75 per cent) to those born outside Australia (24 per cent) is no different from that of the entire Australian workforce. Thus, in terms of employment participation it seems that the construction industry is not discriminating against immigrant workers. Furthermore, the proportion of employees born within and outside Australia does not differ substantially between different occupational groups: 73 per cent of managers and administrators were born inside and 22 per cent were born outside Australia; 73 per cent of professionals were born inside and 27 per cent outside Australia. The proportions are very similar for tradesmen and related workers (76 per cent born inside and 24 per cent born outside Australia), and for labourers and related workers (73 per cent born inside and 27 per cent born outside Australia). This suggests that barriers to the career advancement of immigrant workers do not exist in Australia. One possible reason for this is the fact that immigrants into Australia tend to be well educated (ABS 1999b). For example, an ABS survey of immigrants to Australia after 1980 reports that more than 55 per cent arrived with a post-school qualification. Accordingly, the vast majority (81.

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