21,388 people are listed in the Canary Islands as job seekers in the construction sector. This number of unemployed has fallen by 10% in the last year by almost 2,400 people.
In a few months, when the European funds arrive, the pull in the sector will be "brutal" and it is possible that these 21,388 workers will be to few to cover the expected need in labour. However, there is a problem: most of these unemployed do not have adequate training and qualifications in line with the needs of the companies in the sector. This is indicated by the president of the Association of Construction Employers and Promoters (AECP), María de la Salud Gil, who indicates that there is already a shortage of trained personnel and that this will increase with the European funds arriving.
It is estimated that 70% of the funds are linked to construction. As he explains, the digital transformation has accelerated with covid and has exposed the problem of the lack of aptitude of many workers in the union. Most of those who are unemployed today are because they are not suitable. If the profile were another, they would not be standing still. The digital transformation in the sector is going at cruising speed and many are going to be left behind, ”he says.
As indicated, the problem occurs in specialised positions in the sector such as electricity, plumbing, integral masonry (officers) and even labourers.
As he explains, the problem of the qualification of workers also occurs in companies and in the group of the 14,000 self-employed who are counted in the sector and on which it is going to influence. "There is a lot of self-employed without specialisation," says the president of the AECP,
The message is get qualified to get a job.
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