Good construction employment news has been a little thin on the ground during a two year period of economic difficulty for the UK. However, little green shoots have been seen this year with the hope of a recovery in the construction industry over the coming months and years.

In London for example we are seeing some large office developments going ahead as well as of course the preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games. In spite of the loss of jobs in the financial sector following the banking crisis, there is still demand for new office space in the capital.

This is very encouraging for construction employment prospects in the coming months as developers in turn gain encouragement from lenders. Larger developers in particular are benefiting from a rise in commercial bank lending for real estate projects in 2010.

This hope does have to be tempered somewhat by the knowledge that the UK Government is cutting projects to the tune of ?2 billion in order to help reduce the budget deficit. Whether there will be more casualties in the next 12 months remain to be seen, so it is vital that the private sector continues to grow, and quickly.

However, with a bigger appetite in the financial sector for lending again to developers in order to finance real estate projects, this will hopefully offer up construction employment opportunities. Almost 22 percent of commercial developers reported an increase in total activity in May, so we can only hope this continues for the rest of the year and beyond.