Purpose of the article: The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the skills available in the construction sector in order to participate in the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris and to understand why there is a shortage in certain trades.
Summary:
- The renovation of Notre-Dame de Paris will require a significant number of skills in various building trades.
- Companies are already encountering difficulties in recruiting qualified professionals for these types of positions.
- This is mainly because young people are turning away from short courses and manual trades in favor of training that leads to higher qualifications.
- Limiting the skills shortage in order to meet the needs of companies and meet the expected deadlines requires, in particular, a revaluation of manual trades in order to attract more young people to these training programs.
When a fire ravaged Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on April 15, 2019, the President of the Republic declared that it would be rebuilt within five years. While some consider this deadline ambitious and others unrealistic, many skills will need to be mobilized for this project. Stonemasons, carpenters, roofers, masons, stained glass artists, metalworkers and, more generally, all construction trades will be called upon for this major renovation project. But are these skills currently available in sufficient numbers on the labor market, and how can they be made available? This article attempts to answer these questions.
A skills shortage in these trades
The construction sector accounts for only 6.6% of recruitment projects according to the latest « Labor Needs » survey[1] published by Pôle Emploi in early April 2019. Nevertheless, it is the sector with the highest proportion of jobs considered difficult to fill. In fact, it accounts for a total of 69.4% of jobs where recruitment difficulties are significant, far ahead of industry and business services, which ranksecond andthird respectively in the list of sectors experiencing recruitment difficulties.
Furthermore, within the construction sector itself and before the fire that destroyed the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris, the most sought-after trades for the cathedral’s renovation project were already those for which the proportion of recruitment projects was above the sector average. 84.8% of recruitment projects for roofers were already considered difficult, 81.5% for carpenters, 79.4% for boilermakers, and 72.7% for stonework professionals.
Recruitment projects and difficulties in certain construction trades
Source: Pôle Emploi, 2019 Labor Needs Survey, processed by BSI Economics
Reading: 3,077 recruitment projects concern carpenters in 2019. 81.5% of these recruitment projects are anticipated to be difficult by the companies concerned.
Why such a shortage?
This labor shortage in the construction trades can be explained in particular by the fact that young people are pursuing increasingly longer studies and turning away from manual trades that require lower qualifications, often in favor of professions considered « intellectual. »
In 2018, only 18.2% of 25-34 year olds held a CAP/BEP qualification, compared with 30.2% of the 55-64 age group. Conversely, at the other end of the qualification scale, nearly half of the 25-34 age group in 2018 had a higher education qualification, compared with just over two in ten of the 55-64 age group.
Changes in qualification levels by generation in 2018
Source: INSEE – 2018 Employment Survey, processed by BSI Economics
Scope: France excluding Mayotte, household population, people aged 25 to 64.
Interpretation: in 2018, 18.2% of the 25-34 age group held a CAP or BEP as their highest qualification.
At the same time, this disaffection among young people towards manual trades can be seen in the evolution of apprenticeship numbers. Apprenticeship enrollment remains highest in CAP/BEP-level training programs, which primarily prepare students for manual trades, particularly in construction, with nearly 163,000 people enrolled in 2017, compared to just over 55,000 individuals enrolled in Bac +5 training programs. However, the former have fallen by a third over the last 20 years, while those in other levels of training have risen sharply (+78% for Baccalaureate level training, +221% for Bac+2, +416% for Bac+3/4 and +1573% for Bac+5 and above).
Changes in apprenticeship enrollment by level of education
Sources: MENJ-MESRI DEPP/ SIFA (Apprentice Training Information System), processed by BSI Economics
Scope: Metropolitan France + overseas departments (including Mayotte from 2011) – public and private apprenticeship training centers.
Interpretation: in 1997, there were 246,490 apprentices enrolled in CAP/BEP level training programs.
Conclusion: enhance the image of short training courses and manual trades
For several years now, young people have increasingly favored long courses of study leading to higher qualifications, to the detriment of manual trades training, particularly CAP/BEP-type training. This trend is leading to a shortage of qualified professionals in a number of these manual trades and is creating significant recruitment difficulties for companies wishing to hire. In addition, the implementation of large-scale projects such as the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is likely to create a demand for rare skills that could drain other projects of their expertise.
« Dead end, » « training reserved for poor students, » etc. are just some of the prejudices against manual training that die hard. They tend to discourage young people from pursuing these types of careers, even though the demand for skills is high and exceeds supply. Revamping the image of these training programs and professions, not only among young people but also among their parents and teachers, is essential to combat these clichés and train more professionals to meet the needs of businesses.
