Rising demand for Australian building and construction jobs
Despite looming fears of a building crisis and recent talks being conducted over the need for huge reforms over construction processes, contract administrators project managers, site engineers and other construction industry professions are becoming highly sought after following a surge in construction-related projects. Employment within the Australian building sector saw more than 30,000 positions added over the past quarter.
Data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics point to an increase in the total number of people employed either part-time of full-time within Australia's construction sector. Figures indicate that 30,800 entrants have contributed to the industry's growth from 1.147 million registered workers in February to 1.179 million in May.
This statistic is the second highest level of record and in comparison with the same period of last year represents a substantial increase of 6,700 jobs. Construction services lead the way accounting for 753,200 jobs of which 16,500 had been added over the past year and 67,300 created within the past three years.
Heavy industries, Civil construction and building construction-related jobs have also experienced considerable rises in employment level figures. Amassing a total headcount of 114,600, heavy industry and civil construction employment has shrunk by 6,500 over the past year but experienced an overall increase of 30,500 over the past two years.
This boom in construction was ignited by a flurry of infrastructure jobs and building development plans situated in areas of New South Wales, Southern Australia and Victoria.
These construction employment facts and figures come amidst external reports from recruitment specialist firm Hays that suggest a substantial portion of construction professionals are currently in short supply.
Across Australia, the construction sector employment boom has been cultivated by historically elevated levels of work, near-record levels of home building and multi-residential construction activity, and record levels of investment in road and rail infrastructure projects; therefore, civil infrastructure employment prospects are expected to strengthen further in the coming years as a massive pipeline of proposed projects will keep the nation's construction industry busy.
On the other hand, housing projects have slowed down due to conditions on the ground remaining busy at the moment while notwithstanding the pace at which new work is coming. Although March figures cited a total of 216,551 dwellings were under construction, this was down from the 2018 peak of 231,416 but remains well above levels reported prior to the current housing boom. The report's findings concluded that it expects vacancy activity and professional demand to remain strong during the final stretch of 2019. Moreover, surveys conducted by the Hays Salary Guide also found that 47% of construction employers says they intend to increase their staffing levels during 2019/20.
