Wanted: 30,000 more builders
The construction industry will need another 30,000 workers in two years’ time, according to an industry group.
Civil Contractors New Zealand said not enough people were being drawn into construction, which was expected to grow by 4.7 per cent, twice the national job growth rate by 2019.
One in five new jobs created between 2016 and 2019 would be in construction, according to Business, Innovation and Employment Ministry forecasts.
Civil Contractors chief executive Peter Silcock said his group’s attention was turning heavily towards training and recruiting a more diverse workforce.
‘‘There is no doubt that the face of our industry is changing; there is more technology, more innovation, more women are joining the industry and more training is being offered.
‘‘We need more skilled workers and the reality is that a lot of the training will need to be done on the jobn.’’
Companies were putting more focus on supporting career paths, staff training and retention, safety, career support and active recruitment as a result, he said.
Civil Contractors NZ has 600 members in either civil construction and general contracting.
Silcock said the sector was in a huge growth phase, with major infrastructure projects under way or on the books.
A Civil Trades Certification programme was introduced last year, the civil construction industry’s first apprenticeship scheme, to recognise the skills of both existing and future workers.
‘‘Increasingly our people are very well qualified craftspeople and as an industry we need to get better at recognising and rewarding their skills and expertise,’’ Silcock said.
The growth phase was expected to continue well beyond 2019 so it was vital to attract new workers now, he said.
A construction labour crunch was also highlighted in Statistics New Zealand figures out on Wednesday, which showed that almost 80 per cent of construction firms reported vacancies last year.
About 3600 out of roughly 4600 construction businesses represented in the survey had needed staff, and nearly 60 per cent said they had hard-to-fill vacancies.