Fierce competition for skilled construction staff
If you are looking for a job in construction, moving to Auckland might be a good idea.
Competition for construction workers has pushed the average pay up 21 per cent in Auckland since June last year to almost $99,000, according to Trade Me Jobs figures.
Construction Labour Hire boss Paul Mulholland had struggled for almost 10 years to hire skilled construction workers.
‘‘Trying to find skilled carpenters that have the knowledge to build is very hard,’’ he said.
‘‘While there are a lot of apprenticeships now, and more and more young people are getting into the trade, it takes years and years to learn a new craft. So we’re having to get skill in from overseas and we are very reliant on it.
‘‘In Wellington we advertise continuously and we have only hired two or three New Zealand builders in the past six months.’’
Mulholland said competition had become fierce in the industry as demand increased.
Wages had skyrocketed, rising by between 20 per cent and 25 per cent to attract talent, he said.
The regions were also seeing continued job growth, with every region except the Bay of Plenty outpacing Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch for the second quarter in a row.
But the number of people applying for jobs in the regions was down, leading to higher wages on offer to attract skilled workers.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said the Trade Me figures were not surprising.
‘‘Wage increases overall have been moderate, but construction is a place we have seen wage growth for some time,’’ he said.
‘‘The difficulty of finding skilled labour by New Zealand businesses across the economy is registering the highest since the middle of 2005. We’ve got a fairly healthy economy so there are lots of jobs being created and we are seeing unemployment fall.
‘‘But the more it falls, the more you get pockets of skills shortages. Then that starts to drive up wages in areas that are feeling those pressures most.’’
The 13 sectors with the highest growth in job listings were all offering higher wages to attract workers, with automotive sector wages up 5 per cent since 2016, and construction up 8 per cent.
Around the country construction jobs were up 26.5 per cent.
Demand for construction skills led to Auckland’s average pay ($71,725) continuing to beat Wellington ($66,853) for the highest average pay over the past six months.
Auckland and Wellington continued to see solid listing growth, up 11 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.