Shortage of engineers puts NZ construction industry at risk

The ever-increasing demand for housing, an economy that continues to perform relatively well, and the many promises of infrastructure spending emanating from the last election are all conspiring together to expose a labour shortage of epic proportions in the New Zealand construction industry.

What’s so alarming is that it is estimated that over the next few years, the industry will have to contend with a shortfall of 50,000 construction workers. To make this situation even worse is the fact that this shortfall includes a desperate shortage in the area of construction professionals, including engineers across all of the engineering disciplines required in the industry.

Hundreds of billions of dollars at stake
With so many massive construction projects already underway, and many more projects in the pipeline, including road and railway building projects, bridges, office towers, hotels and hospitals, there are literally billions of dollars of construction work at stake.

In fact, the pipeline of construction work throughout the country over the next few years already amounts to around $200 billion dollars. And it could all be at risk simply because there aren’t enough engineers available to work on and oversee all these projects.

Of course, New Zealand is inherently a small market and with such a huge list of construction projects on the books, it’s not too surprising then that construction companies are struggling to find the necessary labour, and especially the engineering skills, they need to be able to deliver what is being required of them.

Resourcing the skills required outside NZ
Despite recent increases in the number of students studying engineering – statistics from Engineering NZ show that in 2017 seven per cent of graduates were engineering graduates – the supply of graduates into the industry is simply not keeping pace with the demand. This is supported by reports from firms throughout the sector that reveal they’re finding it increasingly difficult to recruit the skilled professionals and engineering graduates that they need.

So, given the enormous scale of all this construction work underway in New Zealand, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the labour required by the construction sector, including in its engineering disciplines, is simply not going to be able to be fully resourced from within the country. And with so many foreigners with engineering qualifications clamouring to get into New Zealand, it is becoming increasingly clear that many of the engineering vacancies are simply going to have to be filled by migrants in the short term.

Make engineering a more attractive career option locally
With an eye on the longer term, however, and in light of the New Zealand construction industry’s critical shortage across all its engineering disciplines, the time has come to do something locally about making engineering a more attractive career path for a wider, more gender and ethnically diverse range of people.

Doing so would not only help to create a larger pool of locally qualified engineers for the industry but having greater diversity would also help the sector to reflect more accurately its diverse client base and enable better communications between contractor and client.

Looking after the future of your business in the construction industry
As an operator of a business in the New Zealand construction industry, it’s important that you do all you can to ensure you remain a viable player in the sector. Correctly managing the risks associated with your operation is one way to look after the long-term health of your business.

Bonded NZ is the only specialist Surety Broker in New Zealand. With our range of Surety Bonding and Building Warranty products, we specialise in helping firms in the construction industry manage their risk so they can stay on top of whatever construction project they’re working on. For expert advice on the options available to you to protect your construction business, get in touch with the team at Bonded NZ today.