Construction: how does freelancing help meet the challenges of the sector in 2024?

And as these are urgent, companies need to recruit quickly and efficiently. Yet hiring employees within the sector has never been more difficult. The lead times for finding talent are very long and they do not always meet companies' expectations in terms of skills but also adaptability. What if the solution to overcome this problem was to call on engineers and technicians with independent status?

The search for new skills to support the transition of the sector

The construction market has begun to change in recent years. Indeed, the increase in construction costs and energy prices had already affected housing starts in 2022. This year, the latter fell by another 6%, revealing a hard-hit real estate purchasing power and households excluded from the market.

Given the current economic situation, the renovation and rehabilitation market gives pride of place to construction and is therefore establishing itself as a structurally more resilient market. To support these various stakeholders in their work, companies are more than ever looking for professionals equipped with these new technical skills and available quickly. A boon for construction professionals who thus have access to real career opportunities. We still need to find the rare gem that will meet the needs of businesses within a given time frame.

A difficulty in recruiting profiles adapted to the needs of companies

To support its transition, the construction sector is seeing new needs emerge for BIM (construction data modeling) manager positions, but also for energy efficiency engineers and project designers on electricity and HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) lots. ).

However, it seems that construction companies have never had such difficulty recruiting employees. Indeed, the construction sector is increasingly affected by the inability to fill available positions, regardless of the level of qualification required. In January 2022, the number of vacancies had almost tripled compared to January 2017 and 75% of recruitment projects were considered difficult compared to 50% 5 years ago.

We see that companies take on average 6 months to recruit a person on a permanent contract and generally need an additional 3 to 6 months to train the person in their profession. This is a considerable investment when we know that the average seniority of a person in a company is 3 years.

In addition to not meeting this urgent need, permanent contract statuses do not always meet the needs of cyclical missions inherent to the sector with mission durations averaging 3 or 4 months, or even needs which employ a person part-time (20 to 70%).

Another significant fact, the increase in the ancillary costs of an employee which includes the price of land, equipment and software license costs, often lead business leaders to favor the use of an independent who provides their own equipment while working from home.

This is the reason why favoring independent status appears to be an interesting solution. Unlike employees who sometimes lack skills due to lack of experience, self-employed professionals have completed various missions which have given them real training and professional expertise. On top of that, freelancers work for different clients, so they are quite adaptable to take on short assignments. A real means of access to qualified resources quickly and a definite opportunity to relieve recruiters. Thus, this option presents itself as a double opportunity.

2024: the turning point to take advantage of the economic situation as a freelancer

The year 2024 promises to be a real source of opportunities for freelance status. If it remains a promising market, the current context demonstrates a strong need for talent in the years to come.

The latter will continue to follow the path of energy efficiency already begun in 2022 with the implementation of RE2020, moving France from thermal regulations to environmental regulations. This is part of ongoing and progressive action in favor of less energy-consuming buildings. In France, the building sector represents 44% of energy consumption and nearly 25% of CO2 emissions, so it is an important lever in the fight against climate change.

Several structural determinants stimulate the growth of this segment: the ecological awareness of citizens and businesses, regulations and state aid for energy renovation, the desire to set an example by public authorities, the improvement of technological solutions , the interest of funders or even the interest of candidates and workers. To attract the best talent, you must be exemplary and work on the issues of the future.

Although the construction sector has been impacted by rising construction costs, it remains a buoyant market. Indeed, contrary to the crisis in the construction sector feared by the French Building Federation and its downward revision of forecasts for 2024, construction remains a job creator throughout the first half of 2023 with, in net balance, 2.600 more positions than in the same half of 2022[1]. These new professional opportunities in the sector are growing and require professionals to support its transition and respond to new economic and ecological challenges. Calling on independent engineers or technicians appears to be a relevant solution in many respects. Their status authorizes them to adapt entirely to the needs of companies, whether in terms of contract duration or even place of work. A way to gain speed, skills and therefore performance. The year 2024 will continue to be highly dynamic, revealing needs linked to the current situation and the energy emergency. Favoring freelancing therefore appears to be a real opportunity for both business leaders and construction professionals.

Tribune by Vincent Pépin, Co-founder of Yalink (LinkedIn).

[1]: Source: Excerpt from Study xerfi la_conjoncture_du_building_a_lhorizon_2024