The Highways Sector Council (HSC) Future Leaders Group has launched a survey to inform efforts to make the sector a career of choice for skilled candidates from all backgrounds.
It is open to all individuals working in any of the various roles in highways, including both operational and non-operational employees, from CEOs through to apprentices.
The aim is to develop a credible baseline of data and evidence to:
- explore the reasons why individuals enjoy working for the highways sector in a consolidated and coordinated way
- explore any barriers and how they could be addressed to fix any promotion, attraction and retention challenges at all job levels
- identify where training is needed for digital and decarbonisation skills (e.g., by geography or another demographic).
- better understand the needs of our current early career professionals, emerging leaders and future leaders, and how we can capitalise on this to help them further.
- use the findings to develop a campaign that promotes highways as a career of choice.
The survey is part of the HSC’s plans for a wider campaign to attract and retain skilled workers to the sector.
The HSC said it is 'seeking views from those in the highways sector, at every level, about what they believe makes it great and some of the opportunities and barriers it faces'.
Transport minister Baroness Vere said: ‘I am pleased to be supporting this first of its kind survey to help understand how we can make the highways sector a career of choice for young people across the country. Our people within highways carry out an essential job in keeping our strategic and local road networks running, and it is critical that we can attract new, emerging talent while retaining the invaluable skills and experience of our existing workforce.’
Anna Delvecchio, chair of the Future Leaders Group, and a founding member of the HSC said: ‘The Highways Sector Council promotes cross-industry collaboration to transform highways and at the centre of this are our people. We need to attract a new diverse workforce and retain the fantastic people we already have across the sector.
'This survey will help us understand what attracts people to the sector and identify any barriers that we can work together to break down. I look forward to seeing the results and further promoting the sector for the rewarding career that it is.'
National Highways chair Dipesh J Shah OBE said: 'I welcome this new survey. For our industry to meet the current and future challenges we face, we need to attract and retain the right people with the right skills. The survey will help us to understand what we need to do to make the highways sector a career of choice for young people and one where our people with a wealth of experience can thrive.'
The survey can be accessed here and only takes five minutes to complete. All responses are completely anonymous.
