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Human Resource Function and ongoing labour shortage of Sri Lankan construction industry

Human Resources are fundamental to all industries, including the construction industry. However, the workforce in the construction industry is extremely diverse with, skilled and unskilled workers, craftsman, managerial and administrative workers. Therefore the use of correct human resource functions in recruitment, remuneration, conditions of employment, performance management, training and development is essential for the long term survival of the construction industries (Spooner and Kaine, 2010).

Generally, the performance of the construction industry is often considered as an indicator of economic development. The construction industry in Sri Lanka contributes about 9% to the GDP with around 600,000 employees. During 2018, the total annual construction turnover was about Rs. 800 billion. As per data in appendix A, the construction costs for middle-class housing clearly indicates that the unit cost of construction in Sri Lanka is the highest in the region, second only to Singapore, which is a developed country with a high per capita GDP (Wijeratne, 2019).

At present, the construction industry in Sri Lanka faces the challenge of a shortage of skilled construction workers leading to the reduced construction volume with cement consumption dropping 7% during 2018. According to the Department of Census and Statistics, the highest labour shortage occurs in elementary occupations such as cleaners and labourers, involved in routine tasks and physical effort which requires minimum educational qualifications to enter. However, this industry is challenged by a shortage of skilled construction workers due to two factors; firstly, there is a large number of potential workers who seek employment as trishaw drivers and secondly, due to worker migration to the Middle East as there is a much higher earning potential ( Daily News 16 February 2018,p.13) .  According to Appendix B, salary and nature of work are critical factors for the labour shortage. Therefore, Human resource professionals in the construction industry should focus to develop a proper plan to attract more workers to overcome the existing labour shortage.

Reference

Spooner, K. and Kaine, S. 2010, ‘Defining sustainability and human resource management’, International Employment Relations Review, vol.16, no.2, pp.70-81.

Wijeratne, NN 2019, ‘Construction industry in a crisis’, Daily Fit 6 March 2019. Available from:< http://www.ft.lk/opinion/Construction-industry-in-a-crisis/14-674025>.[23 May 2019].

Appendix A

Source: Research Intelligence Unit (RIU),2018

Appendix B


Source: Research Intelligence Unit (RIU),2018

Comments

  1. RashidMay 25, 2019 at 5:34 AM

    Good analysis ..

    ReplyDelete
  2. SudarshanaJune 8, 2019 at 7:07 AM

    Comprehensive analysis about the sector and the related HR issues. While able younger generation waste their lives in three wheeler, industry is struggling to get the much needed labor to run the show.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mazeen MansoorJune 11, 2019 at 12:24 PM

    Valid point, poor human resource function can increase the employee turnover thus will it create huge shortage. So to retain employees they must adopt improved HR Policies as you said.

    ReplyDelete

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