The challenges of skilled resources recruitment and retention in construction projects: case of a Cape Town based construction company

Abstract

The challenges involved in the recruitment and retention of personnel with valued talents are a prime issue that many industries are dealing with, and the construction industry is not an exception. This study examines the challenges of attracting and retaining skilled workers in the construction industry at a selected company in Cape Town. In South Africa, the challenges of recruiting and retaining skilled construction workers is often considered in the context of the apartheid era in which non-white education and training was marginalized. Due to the marginalization and poor skills profile, most nonwhite and marginalized youths were absorbed in the construction sector which had greater job opportunities for low skilled individuals. A descriptive research design was used with mixed research methodologies using a structured questionnaire that was distributed supervisors and technical personnel. Purposive sampling was used and this allowed for a 100% return rate for the questionnaires, data of which was cleaned, edited, coded and captured on to an Excel Spread Sheet (ESS). Illustrations were constructed and used to compare and interpret the relationship of the variables understudy. The findings indicate the need of a restructured and continuous human resource training and retaining strategy to counter the effect of brain drainage and continued loss of skilled personnel. The growth of the construction industry is to be complemented with extended apprenticeships at national level to allow for job migration without strong negative effects on the operations of the construction industry.