Summary

The article discusses the potential negative impact of the "Influencer" era on the construction industry, as children's career aspirations shift away from traditional trades towards more glamorized roles.

Abstract

The article "Could the Age of the “Influencer” destroy the construction industry?" explores the concern that the rise of technology and new job prospects may lead to a decline in essential skilled trades within the construction industry. It highlights that while tradespeople are crucial to the economy, their roles are not featured in a list of top career aspirations among children, which is topped by sports personnel, teachers, vets, and social media influencers. The article suggests that the allure of social media fame is overshadowing the practical and necessary trades, with only 1.1% of 13,000 surveyed children expressing interest in construction. It argues for a re-evaluation of how the construction industry is portrayed to children and emphasizes the importance of hands-on experience in schools to ignite interest in trades that are vital for the development and maintenance of cities and infrastructure.

Opinions

The construction industry is fundamental to the economy, yet it is undervalued in children's career aspirations.
The influence of social media and the portrayal of glamorous careers may be leading children away from considering trades as viable career options.
There is a concern that the lack of interest in construction trades could result in a shortage of skilled workers, impacting the sustainability of towns and cities.
The current educational focus on theory over practical skills is seen as a disservice to students, leaving them unprepared for adult life and the realities of the job market.
Introducing children to practical skills such as bricklaying could spark interest in construction trades and should be considered part of their educational experience.
The construction industry needs to be rebranded to appeal to the younger generation to ensure its future and the continued development of infrastructure.

Could the Age of the “Influencer” destroy the construction industry?

With ever advancing technologies the job prospects that are available are vaster than ever before, especially when you consider the limited opportunities that our Grandparents had. But with these new advances are we at a risk of losing the skillsets that are needed in core areas such as the construction industry?

It can be argued that tradesmen and women form the foundations of the economy. The skyscrapers of New York on Wall Street would not be standing tall without the skilled hands and meticulous brains of trade workers.

However it may come as a surprise that builders, electricians, plumbers or any other hands on trade did not feature at all on a list of the “Top 10 most popular aspirations of children” compiled by The Telegraph in 2018.

Sports personnel, teacher and vet held the top 3 spots with a developing career coming in fourth, that of the Social Media influencer.

Top 10 most popular aspirations of children

Sportsman/woman — 21.3%

Teacher/Lecturer — 10.9%

Vet — 6.9%

Social media and Gaming — 5.7%

Police — 5.2%

Doctor — 5.2%

Scientist — 4.2%

Artist — 3.9%

Singer/Musician — 3.8%

Army/Navy/Airforce/Firefighter — 3.3%

Engineer — 2.5%

Chef — 2.1%

Actor/Actress — 2.0%

Hairdresser — 2.0%

Dancer — 1.7%

Nurse/Health visitor — 1.6%

Fashion/jewelry/shoes/handbags designers — 1.4%

Airline pilot — 1.3%

Author — 1.2%

Driver/Haulage — 1.1%

Survey conducted of 13,000 children https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/01/19/revealed-top-career-aspirations-todays-primary-school-children/

Young minds are drawn to the glamour portrayed by their favorite influencers on YouTube and Instagram, but is it unrealistic for a child to pin all of their hopes and dreams of making a life for themselves this way without any sort of a backup plan?

Life in the construction industry can be hard. There’s the danger of recession, uncertainty, long hours, having to work on cold building sites and sometimes the safety of these sites can be questionable, but we need people to be in these industries in order to sustain our towns and develop our cities.

Perhaps the construction industry did not feature on the aspirations lists along with Singer, Doctor and teacher because they are industries that are not at the forefront of children’s minds and they just tick along in the background. The awareness of the skills and knowledge that can be learnt in these industries is not there and children really cannot get any experience of them whilst in a school environment.

Schools focus so much on the theory and not enough on the practical side of being an adult. Finances, budgeting, cooking and work. The lack of preparation means quite often when kids leave school, they are just not ready for everything the world can throw at them. Sure, children should be allowed to just be children but being practical from an early age could be more beneficial in the long run than algebra (unless they become a Math’s teacher of course!)

Showing them the skills of laying a brick and allowing them to have a go could ignite a spark in their mind, having a trade does not have to be the ‘boring’ job they may think it to be.

It is great that children now have so many choices and opportunities, but it is a shame that construction is not considered an aspiration anymore. It is not even at the bottom of the list which equates to just 1.1% of the 13,000 children surveyed. For the risk of our talent pools slowly drying up it may be worth re-evaluating how construction is portrayed and letting children experience it for themselves, our future skyscrapers depend on it!