Key points:
- Ireland is facing a shortfall of almost 1,100 surveyors over the next four years if the economy grows by 4%per annum
- SCSI warns this is a conservative estimate and the shortage of qualified graduates will put further pressure on the country’s ability to address the housing crisis
- The median salary of a surveyor is just over €77,000
- This is an increase of 10% on the last survey in 2019
- 82% of respondents say inflation is a barrier to employment growth
Thursday 2nd February 2023: The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has warned the country will face a major shortage of qualified surveyors if the economy enjoys growth of 4% per annum over the next four years.
The SCSI says this will put further pressure on the country’s ability to address the housing crisis as well as key infrastructural and commercial developments.
According to the SCSI’s Employment, Remuneration and Workplace Report 2023, which examined the supply of and demand for Irish graduates across the built environment life cycle, in a 4% per annum growth scenario 2,910 new surveyor positions will be created across the profession between 2023 and 2026.
However, based on current levels the number of Irish graduates entering the workforce during that four-year period will be just 1,829, a shortfall of 1,081 or 59%. If the economy grows by 3% the shortfall of surveyors will still be significant at 18%.
The biggest shortfall in the more optimistic growth scenario will be in property, where almost 500 estate agents and property managers will be required. In this situation the country will also need to treble the number of building surveyor graduates from 77 to over 200 and double the number of land surveyors from 99 to 221.
The survey found that the median salary of a surveyor is €77,200, an increase of 10% on the last survey which was carried out in 2019.
The President of the SCSI, Kevin James, said the figures showed the urgent need to ramp up the enrolment of surveyors in our third level colleges and to develop additional pathways to the profession, including through apprenticeships.
“Solving our housing supply crisis and achieving our targets with regard to the Climate Action Plan and the National Development Plan will require sufficient numbers of qualified graduates coming into the surveying profession.”
“Eight out of ten respondents to this survey confirmed inflation is a barrier to employment growth and that is very concerning. We know the construction sector is facing shortages of skilled workers, but this survey puts numbers on the scale of those shortages from a surveying perspective.”
“It is very likely that the Housing for All targets will undergo significant upward revision in the coming weeks, and this is going to increase the demand for all types of surveyors. Given that this research was conducted at a time of market uncertainty it is likely that the estimates of future employment demand are conservative.”
Mr James was speaking ahead of the SCSI’s annual dinner which takes place at the Clayton Burlington Hotel this evening and is due to be attended by over 1,300 chartered surveyors and guests. In his speech, Mr James will suggest there may be opportunities for people previously employed in the tech sector to transition to new careers in property, land, or construction.
“The construction sector needs to prioritise digital adoption to keep pace with client demands and I believe this is just one area where people previously employed in the tech sector have a great deal to offer. For its part, as this survey shows, a career in surveying is hugely rewarding, not only for its financial rewards but also in terms of the diverse nature of the work and the variety of opportunities available. That’s an important message which we need to reinforce to our young people – and their parents!”
The report examined salary levels across the three main areas surveyors work in and found the highest median salary was in construction at €85,000, followed by property on €70,000 and land on €64,000.
It also found a considerable difference existed between salary levels in Dublin and the rest of the country. The median salary in Dublin is €80,000, 15% more than the median for the rest of the country, which is €68,925.
Females make up 25% of the SCSI’s 6,000 overall membership but have a higher representation in property 34% as opposed to 16% in land and 10% in construction.
While the median salary for female is €70,000, 14% less than the median male salary of €80,000, the report’s author Dr Roisin Murphy, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment at TU Dublin, says it should not be construed that female respondents generally earn less than males.
“It’s important to remember that the lower number of female SCSI members compared to males, will have a distortive effect on the sample size. In addition, there are proportionately more female members within the property designation, which has a lower median salary overall.
“While considerable progress has been made in addressing gender imbalance across the built environment sector nationally, there remains work to be done to address the ongoing lack of diversity. Trends in relation to salary provision across gender should be monitored on an ongoing basis.” Dr Murphy concluded.
The full report is available here
Ends.
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Note to Editor
The research for this report was undertaken on an independent basis by Dr Roisin Murphy Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment at TU Dublin, in Q4 2022. Over 850 property land and construction surveyors participated in the survey for this report.