Labourers in demand on job sites

As the temperature heats up, so does the need for labourers and machinery drivers on construction sites, new statistics reveal.

In the past year, vacancies for both jobs have increased 28 per cent, increasing another 1 per cent in the past month.

The number of staff the construction industry needs is almost five times that of sales and whitecollar professionals.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s annual index of jobs listed on Seek, Trade Me Jobs, Education Gazette and Kiwi Health Jobs highlights the growing need for workers with few or no skills.

There has been a spike in demand for such workers since 2015. Since September last year, job openings for unskilled and lowskilled workers both increased about 12 per cent.

The demand for skilled workers dropped 8.1 per cent over the same time period.

Auckland Labour Hire operations manager Israel Whitley said about 70 per cent of his construction company clients wanted skilled building practitioners.

His company has about 100 labourers it hires out to construction sites in Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and Christchurch.

Whitley said the demand for unskilled workers left a ‘‘massive question mark’’ over the construction industry’s reputation.

He said some labour hire companies were ‘‘just chucking bodies out,’’ but his staff met with new labourers face to face to ensure they would be reliable on-site.

The ministry’s data also showed that Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury were among the places with fewest job openings this year. The West Coast and Northland had the biggest increase in jobs, both growing their vacancies by about 27 per cent.