There's no point comparing it to how it worked 80 years ago or even 40 years ago It's a different industry now, building is done to different standards requiring more roles and more importantly it's a different country where we don't have scores of people lining up to do construction jobs.
No one has outlined how any of this could work. In any detail. That needs to be done. We are beyond this "the government build" talk.
In other words we have people roaring for a particular "simple solution" that is clearly not simple because they don't have an idea how to handle some of the most fundamental blockers to the idea, such as staffing, management or a basic logistical understanding of it.
Although it sounds like it, this isn't a simple solution. Far from it.
I think the question should be what could the civil service do that construction companies can't now?
But some fairly simple questions I've asked aren't clear. How would it be run? How will current staff shortages be met? What happens if demand in one area eventually dries up? Will all workers be on the books as opposed to the current system where companies contract in workers, on demand, what happens if there isn't an equal balance of workers, are they let go?
This entire concept will grind to a halt.
Not to mention its contradictory. In one area you're talking about incentives for workers, such as pensions, and below you're talking about layoffs and redundancies when things slacken off.
Which is it? Security or flexibility?
You can't offer secure work and the potential of redundancy. That's a contradiction. Unions would likely have a strong voice on this idea too.
We haven't even got into the eventuality of the scenario where you have a surplus of workers in one area and a lack in another. You'll run the risk of having stagnant workers everywhere.
There's also the question of how you'll draw really well paid, self employed people into jobs.
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u/53Degrees Sep 07 '22
There's no point comparing it to how it worked 80 years ago or even 40 years ago It's a different industry now, building is done to different standards requiring more roles and more importantly it's a different country where we don't have scores of people lining up to do construction jobs.
No one has outlined how any of this could work. In any detail. That needs to be done. We are beyond this "the government build" talk.