At 49%, nearly half of construction plant hire firms anticipate that they will axe entry-level roles over the next year, according to a Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) survey, viewed by The Herald.

The survey found a further 43% intend to take on less apprentices, while 46% have already decreased hiring and 26% have implemented a recruitment freeze.

The CPA said the reductions were down to higher employer national insurance contributions and inheritance tax reforms affecting family-owned businesses, as well as increasing wage and energy costs.

Steven Mulholland, chief executive of the CPA, said: “Across Scotland and the rest of the UK, our members want to create more opportunities for young people, but rising energy costs, national insurance increases and inheritance tax reforms are pushing firms to the brink at exactly the moment we need to be investing in the next generation.

“When budgets are squeezed, it is entry-level roles and apprenticeships that go first – and that has consequences far beyond the balance sheet.

“The government says it wants growth and it wants jobs, but unless it makes it easier and more affordable for businesses to hire, backing employer-led apprenticeships and reducing the cost burden on SMES (small and medium-sized enterprises, those ambitions will run well ahead of the workforce available to deliver them.”

The most recent construction Industry Training Board outlook predicts that the sector will need an average of 41,200 more workers a year between this year and 2030 to meet the predicted demand.

According to the CPA, almost half a million current construction workers are also due to retire within the next 15 years, ramping up demand for more young construction workers. 

That recruitment challenge comes as more than one million people aged between 16 and 24 are not in education, employment or training.

The CPA also spoke against reforms to Business Property Relief, claiming it is accelerating pressure on family-owned, asset-heavy businesses. 

The CPA also said that the reforms could make owners sell assets or divert money from recruitment and investment in a bid to meet tax requirements.

Family-run small and medium-sized businesses constitute around 95% of the plant-hire sector, the CPA said. 

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We recognise the UK Government’s introduction of higher employer national insurance contributions has made it much more expensive to employ people. That is why we are reviewing apprenticeship contribution rates, to try to help businesses, and we will also carefully consider what more can be done to ensure more employers can recruit more apprentices and realise their benefits.