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Infrastructure workforce and skills supply

Australia has ambitious plans when it comes to investing in public infrastructure. A skilled workforce that is available when required will be pivotal in realising these plans.

The proposed rapid expansion of public infrastructure is testing the limits of existing capacity and capability.

Signs of shortages are already prevalent across the workforce with demand anticipated to reach unprecedented levels, well beyond the sector’s ability to service them.

Projections show that at its projected peak in 2023 the infrastructure workforce will be 48% short of demand, a deficit of 93,000 people.

At a glance:-

  • Public infrastructure draws from four infrastructure-based occupational groups: project management professionals; engineers, scientists and architects; structures and civil trades and labour; and finishing trades and labour.
  • An estimated 182,000 individuals are currently engaged in the delivery of public infrastructure across Australia. This includes an estimated 25,000 project management professionals, 43,000 engineers, scientists and architects, 49,000 structures and civil trades and labourers and 65,000 finishing trades and labourers.
  • 79% of the engaged workforce are in New South Wales, Victoria or Queensland, and 78% of the construction workforce are in major cities creating challenges for regional labour markets.
  • Smaller jurisdictions or regional areas also face higher risks to workforce retention. A lack of diversity in construction work means that when government funding ceases, so do the jobs. Just under 30% of the relevant Northern Territory workforce is engaged in public infrastructure compared with under 15% in Queensland or Victoria.
  • Detailed design work is increasingly being concentrated in New South Wales and Victoria where two-thirds of engaged engineers, scientists and architects reside, with Western Australia and Northern Territory having much higher proportions of finishing trades and labour.
  • Of the 50 occupations identified as relevant to public infrastructure, some 34 are rated as either likely or potentially in shortage (16 occupations are rated as likely in shortage and 18 rated as potentially in shortage). Half of these are engineers, scientists and architects, although there are shortages in all occupation groups.
  • Over the next three years, demand for labour is anticipated to reach unprecedented levels. Labour shortages are anticipated to be three times greater than in 2017-2018, peaking at a likely shortfall of 93,000 workers in early 2023 or 48% higher than the projected supply.
  • Shortages are anticipated to peak at 19,000 project management professionals, 70,000 engineers, scientists and architects, 16,000 structural and civil trades and labour and 14,000 finishing trades and labour at different points across the next three years. The country is nearing peak demand for engineers, scientists and architects in 2021
  • Risks posed by an ageing workforce (40% to potentially retire in the next 15 years) are compounded by regulatory and procurement practices that result in workforce inefficiencies the sector cannot afford as it copes with escalating demand.
  • Efforts to grow the workforce are compromised by a range of cultural, geographical, diversity and education issues that constrain the sectors’ ability to rapidly grow its workforce. Migration can not meet the gap alone, and border closures, limitations of visa programs and poor utilisation of existing migrants are additional constraints.

Action is required.

Continued investment in public infrastructure without significant expansion of workforce supply risks compounding shortages already evident in the workforce, increasing the risks to delivery of this once in a generation investment pipeline in the years to come.

To see the full report, please click here

Skill Shortages