Cuts in public spending and the eurozone crisis will lead to job losses in Scotland’s construction sector, according to the Construction Skills Network (CSN).

The news was part of CSN’s annual report, which estimated employment in the Scottish sector would fall by 1% a year on average between 2013 and 2017.

This, says CSN, is despite the fact that output is set to grow over the period, following a drop of 13% in 2012.

Michael Levack, executive director of the Scottish Building Federation (SBF), said the report illustrated the challenges which still remain for the industry.

He commented: "Particularly concerning are predictions that employment in the industry will continue to fall over the next four years, despite having already lost tens of thousands of jobs over the past five years. This ongoing reduction in industry capacity risks creating severe price inflation as demand begins to recover."

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But Graeme Ogilvy, Scotland director at industry training body CITB-ConstructionSkills, remains relatively optimistic.

He said: "Despite the downturn, the sector still took on around 13% more apprentice entrants in Scotland than in 2011.

"This is a promising development which needs to continue if the industry is to be in a position to tackle the demographic time-bomb which will leave skills shortages as an ageing workforce retires."

The report said output in Scotland’s construction sector should outpace the UK as a whole between now and 2017.

Housing renovation and maintenance will increase 3.7% up to 2017, with work in the private housing sector expected to rise by 3.5%.

Output is projected to grow by 1.1% - a figure higher than the UK estimation of 0.8%.

The recruitment rate in Scotland is expected to drop 58%, with the number of jobs created dropping from 4,800 a year to 2,800.

(IT/GK)