Laing O'Rourke

Supporting work-shadowing and re-skilling schemes for asylum seekers and refugees has given Laing O'Rourke the opportunity to employ some highly experienced engineers.

The international construction group employs more than 27,300 people worldwide and reported record profits of £45m on turnover of more than £3 billion in the last financial year.

Major infrastructure projects in Scotland include the new Forth Valley Acute Hospital, Edinburgh's Waterfront redevelopment and school building programmes across Edinburgh, Perth and Kinross.

"It's experienced personnel that are in short supply," explains Jim Gaffney, Laing O'Rourke Scotland's head of corporate responsibility. "There's a profusion of people coming through university and college who are educated in the professions, but unfortunately in the world of construction they tend to lack the necessary experience required on the larger projects.

"We can manage at this moment in time, but when demand ramps up, experienced personnel are at a premium. It's not just the artisans who are in short supply. It's management and professionals, like quantity surveyors, construction managers, project managers and others, who we need as well. The shortage is endemic throughout the industry. Scotland has a reputation for supplying trained, competent engineers to the rest of the UK and overseas. But unfortunately we suffer from that a bit."

Helping skilled workers from other countries gain the accreditation they need to work in the UK has allowed Laing O'Rourke Scotland to offset some of the staffing shortfalls that have arisen in recent years.

Several years ago the company became involved in the Bridges Programmes, a work-shadowing scheme for asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland. Since then they have hired several engineers who were given leave to remain in the UK.

The company has also upskilled and recruited around six electricians who came to the UK as refugees through OTAR (Overseas Tradespeople Accreditation and Reskilling). And another five former refugees have been recruited through the Pathways to Employment for Professional Engineers (PEPE) initiative.

"It meets an immediate shortfall that can't be addressed unless we poach from other companies, which presents them with similar difficulties," says Jim, who is also chair of the Bridges Programmes.

"Different nationalities can also take a fresh approach to problems, because they've done it differently and are looking at it differently. They are always looking for cost effective solutions, because they may have had no choice in the country they're from. It's also quite invigorating seeing older engineers wanting to get out and work on the construction sites. They're technically aware but also very hands on. They want to be out there seeing it getting built. It seems to be the way they've been trained, whatever country they're from.

"The more diversity Laing O'Rourke has in its offices, the more cosmopolitan and global it becomes as a business."

The company has offices in Germany, India, Australia and United Arab Emirates, as well as the UK. It gives staff the opportunity to work around the world. Other recruits in Scotland have included civil and electrical engineers from Sri Lanka and the Ukraine.

Jim concludes, "We're a global company that requires experienced professionals in Scotland."

Case study:May 2006

More Information

Find out more about Laing O’Rourke
Find out more about the Bridges Programme
Find out more about the New Forth Valley Acute Hospital