Where will workers come from?
Shortage of skilled workers looms says Master Builders
Competition for skilled labour will intensity over the next 12 to 18 months, according to Master Builders Federation chief executive Warwick Quinn.
He was commenting on a debate in Parliament yesterday when Finance Minister Bill English was questioned about the number of tradespeople moving to Australia.
Mr Quinn said that while the rest of the country was in the doldrums many tradespeople might move to Christchurch as the rebuild accelerated some time over the next 12 or 18 months. It would be a 10-year project, he said.
But there would also be competing demand for repairs to leaky buildings. Parliament was due to approve a funding package for leaky building owners this week.
In addition, the economy in general would pick up.
“It can’t stay like this. We’ve had three years of record low building activity. Auckland is starting to show flickers of life and it’s the only centre where there’s an identifiable housing shortage, aside from the Christchurch situation.
“When the leaky building work starts the skills shortage will really bite.”
The other demand for skilled labour would come from the Japan with its rebuilding programme after the recent tsunami.
Mr Quinn said that apprentice numbers were down 50% and he has met training groups to discuss ways of encouraging companies to take them on ahead of the expected work schedule.
“Personally I think there’s a lot of uncertainty in the short term but eventually we’ll need a lot more than we have now.”
The latest migration statistics, released yesterday, showed a net outflow of 3300 migrants to Australia last month, up from 1700 in May 2010 and higher than the previous May record of 2900 in 1979.
Chris Hutching
Wed, 22 Jun 2011
Wed, 22 Jun 2011
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Where will workers come from?
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