A new report, by the Clarius Group, has noted a “significant” quarterly rise in the demand for architects and warns that skilled migration alone will not satisfy the industry’s needs.
If the industry fails to nurture home-grown talent and loses young architects to other professions, it could face a skills shortage proportional to the last recession, the report argues.
Released yesterday, the Clarius Skills Index reflects demand across 20 skilled occupations.
For the first time since mid-2008, the index has recorded a “significant” rise in the demand for professionals and associate professionals within the building and engineering sector (encompassing architects, engineers, draftspersons and surveyors).
During times of labour market tightness, when employers experience difficulty finding appropriately skilled employees, the index is greater than 100. Conversely, at times when employees are easier to find (in a loose labour market), the index is less than 100.
While the architectural labour market has a rating of 100.5, putting it into the “balanced” category, the sector recorded the highest quarterly rise in demand of all the professions.
However, this increase in demand for labour has been driven by specific project needs, meaning that recruitment has been “very targeted” towards senior and more experienced staff, the report found.
“The offshoot has been that graduates, who require training and support, continue to have difficulties locating new opportunities.”
The ongoing issue for the building and engineering industry is that “it is apparent that skilled migration will not satisfy Australia’s long term needs”, the report argues.
“The key, in the short term, is to ensure that the junior end of the workforce is not lost to other industries and create a shortfall in skills similar to the effect of the last recession … But we believe it will be a more positive year in the building and construction sectors.”
