16 March 2015
Chartered Surveyors express concern at skill shortages
New TV campaign aims to encourage more young people, especially women to enter profession
Women currently make up 20% of SCSI members
Monday March 16th 2015. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland has said many employers in the property and construction sector are having difficulty filling posts.
The SCSI made the claim at the launch of its first ever TV ad campaign which will kick off this evening.
One of the main purposes of the ad is to show the diversity of the Chartered Surveying profession in the property, land and construction sectors to the wider public. It will also show young people the variety of career choices which exist within surveying and hopefully encourage them to consider the profession as a career choice.
The Society is hoping to capitalise on a resurgence of interest in careers in Property, Land and Construction, which is evident from the latest figures from the CAO. These show an increase of 28% in honours degree programmes in Built Environment, the highest increase that any sector has seen this year. Last year SCSI accredited Surveying courses saw a 50% increase in enrolments nationwide.
The ad which was produced by the Atomic agency will run on all the main Irish channels for a period of three weeks in the first phase.
Pauline Daly the President of the SCSI said the Society would particularly like to see more women taking up property and construction related courses in the coming years.
“As activity levels have improved, particularly in urban areas and with construction output expected to grow by 30 percent over the coming four years, the lack of new graduates entering the profession had become a major concern for employers, many of whom are now having difficulty filling posts”
“We’d especially like to see more young women pursuing careers in our industry. Traditionally the sector has been seen as something of a male preserve but that is changing. Currently women make up 20% of our 5,000 members but we want to drive that figure up in the coming years and we hope the TV campaign, featuring as it does a number of successful young women will help us achieve that.”
Patricia Power, founder of Patricia Power Quantity Surveying/Project Management is one of several women in the TV ad. Patricia features regularly alongside Dermot Bannon on RTE’s popular Room to Improve series. Claire Solon is another in her role as Head of Estates Management at the ESB.
Conor O’Donovan, Communications Director of SCSI said “The Society decided to undertake the campaign in the context of the stabilisation and moderate growth in the property and construction sectors as we move to the next stage of the cycle. One of the main objectives of the campaign is to highlight the importance of working with qualified professionals such as Chartered Surveyors when making important property decisions, be it buying a home, renovating a property, leasing a new business premises or managing a facility.”
Ends.