Capacity Utilization of Construction Craftsmen in Public Sector in North Central Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

The research examined the utilization levels of the capacities of the construction craftsmen in the public sector of the Nigerian economy sequel to speculations that construction craftsmen in the public sector have low level work output. The issue of work output borders on labour capacity utilization. Craftsmen in the public sector were identified in the study and the extent to which their services were utilized by the employing departments was verified over a ten-year period. The research was focused at generating information that can be used to improve on usage of labour resource in the construction industry. The objectives include generating distribution of craftsmen by skill, determining the relationship between annual labour output and input of each department and making appropriate recommendations. Literatures on construction labour economy were reviewed. The methodology entails a pilot study comparing the wages operating in the public with the private sector, data collected were sourced by questionnaire and historical records. Samples were collected from State and Federal Ministries of Works in Kwara, Niger and Plateau States. Data on number of craftsmen per salary grade level per department were collected from registry department of each ministry for a ten-year period. Different sets of structured questionnaire were served on the craftsmen and their supervisors. The statistical techniques used to analyse the data include percentages, averages, linear regression, correlation analyses and analyses of variance (ANOVA). All the four departments of the Ministry were covered by the research. Results revealed that craftsmen were unequally represented by gender with 92.5% male; 81.5% were between 30 and 50 years old; their salary clustered in levels 05 to 07; they remain with single employer though they prefer change of employment for better utilization of their skills; they were idle most days of the year for lack of job orders; one reason for insufficient work was that most State Governors/Ministers of Works gave out work on contracts by unorthodox means; The study shows that there was no significant relationship between the work output of the craftsmen in the public service of the zone and the corresponding wages earned. In 87% cases, the employer had negative return of his investments on the craftsmen. Productivity was higher generally in the federal ministry than in the state. The perception of the departmental heads on the level of achievement of the annual production plans of the departments was in line with the calculated productivity ratings. Productivity ratings for the craftsmen category were created as an attempt to assist the government in the human resource planning requirement of this group. It was envisaged that the study will assist the Nigerian government in the human resources planning for the construction industry to cater for the needs of the various government establishments in direct labour project executions.