Latest results: Asset Skills Barometer Survey

March 2010

Property workforce in need of new skills to meet new recession demands

New research shows property employers fear their staff do not have the right skills to undertake new demands created as a result of the recession.

The Asset Skills Barometer Project is a rolling six monthly survey of employers. It asked 91 property companies about current and emerging challenges.

The findings show the property industry is still struggling with the banks' unwillingness to lend money to buyers and a lack of consumer confidence in the market.

Another hurdle facing employers is a workforce not equipped to deal with ever increasing new legislation and the shift into the lettings sector. New and additional skills were needed by 34% of companies, including the extent to which new employees are ready for the job.

"The property sector has been hit particularly hard by the recession and these findings show a clear need for staff to learn new skills in order to diversify into other areas," said Richard Beamish, Chief Executive of Asset Skills, the Sector Skills Council for property services.

"We have been working with the sector on helping meet these new challenges including helping employers access part-subsidised courses in residential lettings."

On staff training and development, 23% of companies had spent more time on training during the recession. However, only 4% had spent more money. In 13% of cases, the amount of time spent on training had fallen in the last 12 months.

Other emerging challenges cited by employers were training staff to be multi-skilled and issues around the licensing of estate agents. A fifth of the companies surveyed, planned to expand into new areas of activity in the next year while half were unsure if their staff had the skills required to do this.

The full Barometer findings are available here.

For more information call the Asset Skills research team on 01604 233 336 or visit www.assetskills.org