Civil engineering companies intend to continue training employees and taking on apprentices this year, according to the latest research.

A survey of its members by the Civil Engineering Contractors Association has revealed that many intend to maintain or increase the amount of training they are carrying out this year. A high number also aim to recruit apprentices – either the same number as, or more than, they did last year.

This is despite the fact that a separate survey by the CECA shows that most of its members expect to have a surplus of skills over the coming year.

The 2009 Training Survey was taken by 106 companies of varying sizes across the UK – a third of CECA’s membership. They revealed how many training days they offered employees and how many apprentices they employed last year, and then indicated whether they would be increasing or decreasing those figures this year.

In 2008, 86 per cent of the companies surveyed provided more than 50 training days and 37 per cent provided more than 500. This commitment looks set to continue in 2009, with 77 per cent of respondents aiming to maintain or increase the number of training days available to employees this year.

The trend is the same for apprenticeships. Sixty participating companies said they employed at least one apprentice last year, with 78 per cent of those employing more than five.

Sixty five per cent said they intend to maintain or increase the number of apprentices they employ this year; 35 per cent intend to reduce their apprentice intake.

CECA claims to be the first industry body to conduct such a survey, examining the effect of the downturn on training programmes and apprenticeships. It decided to run the survey after noticing a fall in the number of companies taking places on its training courses at the beginning of this year.

A spokesman said the organisation hadn’t expected the survey results to be as positive as they were; it had anticipated that a larger proportion of its members would be decreasing their training.

CECA director Rosemary Beales added: “It is vital to guard against any future skills shortage and companies must prepare for the future by investing in training today. The results of CECA’s training survey show that member companies are committed to doing this.

“This is a good news story for the civil engineering sector. Despite anecdotal evidence that training levels would drop significantly during the downturn, CECA members show a real desire to continue to attract new people into the industry and improve skills at all levels.”

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