UK Property Downturn Costs More Jobs

Massive job cuts are expected in the UK building industry in the first half of 2009, from small to medium sized firms. Half the members of the Federation of Master Builders admitted reluctantly making people redundant in Q4 2008, and half said they were likely to be forced to do so in the first quarter of this year. This could mean up to 90,000 job losses.

Builders have very quickly seen their workload disappear as the UK property market continues on its downward spiral. The building industry was of course one of the strongest when times were good in the UK property market, plumbers and electricians were in such short-supply in made the news.

Of course this led the government to start more schemes allowing people of any age to start apprenticeships and obtain a trade so they could get jobs in the thriving building industry. It now seems many of those people may come out of the training centre all trained up with nowhere to work. Though plumbers and electricians should continue to do well, because the shortage was not primarily in the building of new houses, it was in call outs from private residents.

However, one possible knock-on effect of the job-cuts could be putting hundreds of Polish workers who migrated into the UK and took jobs as skilled tradesmen and labourers in the UK building industry. This may force them to return to Poland, where the economy might just offer them work before the UK will, and it might pay slighter better as well with currency fluctuations taken into consideration.

Many Polish people who come to the UK to work had done so with a clear path of saving up enough money to buy homes back in their own country. If any of them have achieved this aim during their time here, their heading back home could start the Polish property recovery earlier than expected.