TRADESMEN SHORTAGE

AUCKLAND: People wanting a specific builder or a refurbishment for their home are being told they may have to wait one to two years due to a lack of skilled tradies.

The housing boom and an ageing workforce has been exacerbated by a lack of international labour due to border closures.

Last month, the Building and Construction Industry said the number of apprentices was at a high: 16,000 people are training for one of the trades.

New Zealand Certified Builders chief executive Grant Florence said there was a great flow of new and eager tradies coming into the sector but still a major shortage of skilled tradesmen.

‘‘There’s been a shortage of skilled tradespeople for quiet some time but it’s getting worse with time,’’ Mr Florence said.

‘‘Obviously, the housing boom isn’t helping. Building consents are at record highs and previously we have relied on migrant workers to fill gaps where needed, so now that they’re not here the issue has got worse.’’

The Government was doing as much as it could but it was facing a double whammy, because the residential sector had continued to grow against all predictions, Mr Florence said.

‘‘Unfortunately, homeowners are having to wait a lot longer — in some cases I’ve heard of people waiting 12 months to start a build so they can have their desired builder.’’

The skilled worker shortage could be attributed to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, he said.

‘‘People stopped taking apprentices and that sort of flowed through over the last few years, so now we have ended up with a busy period and not enough labour.’’

Mr Florence said the industry should plug the skilled worker gap in the future.

‘‘There’s two ways we can fill the gap of skilled tradespeople, which is training them ourselves or by bringing in skilled migrant workers, and now it’s become obvious we haven’t been training enough people to fill the gap internally,’’ Mr McLaughlin said.

‘‘The silver lining of the Covid19 pandemic is that the Government has had its hand forced to subsidise employers to train and we’ve had a massive upsurge in people taking up apprenticeships.’’

It had been indicated that the scheme was only for a short time, he said.

‘‘It would be extremely shortsighted for the Government to remove the subsidy. If anything, they should double the subsidy given to employers.’’

For now, demand was outstripping supply, he said.

‘‘Recently, I’ve heard of someone trying to get a refurbishment done on their home and they were told to call back in 2022.’’

‘‘Almost all of the major companies are advertising jobs, so for New Zealand electricians overseas looking to come home, they are almost certain to walk into a job straight away.’’