Demand for skilled professionals and tradespeople across the building and engineering sectors has consistently increased this year as the economy gathers pace, according to the latest Clarius Skills Index.
According to the Index, this has seen the emergence of two new trends in employment in the building and construction industry — more employee movement in the sector and a tendency towards permanency among new hires.
The Skills Index for construction tradespersons rose by a strong 1.4 per cent in the March quarter, moving from 98.4 to 99.8 (a score of 100 in the Index indicates equal tension between supply and demand). Whilst the index remains in the balanced range, the large movement between quarters indicates a strengthening of demand conditions that is likely to continue over the next few quarters.
The Clarius Skills Index for building and engineering professionals remained steady in the March 2010 quarter, whilst the index for associate professionals moved from 100.00 to 100.5.
Phil Desmet, executive general manager for SouthTech, Clarius Group’s engineering and building services division, says skills shortages continues to be one of the biggest issue facing businesses and governments involved in large infrastructure projects.
“After hitting the bottom in October, the market has been gradually climbing ever since. There is now a readiness to make hiring decisions, whereas several months ago companies in this sector were preparing for opportunities and holding back on making these hiring decisions,” he says.
“SouthTech is seeing two emerging trends as we come out of the GFC. New jobs are mainly filled by people moving from one organisation to another. This is partly due to the fact that it is bonus time of the year and many do not receive bonuses in their current positions, prompting them to move on. This movement is particularly strong at the senior end of $100,000 p.a. plus.
“Second, there is certainly a stronger tendency towards permanency among new hires. This is a usual trend at the end of an economic downturn. Companies initially hire temporary staff as they are unsure about how the market will move forward. They then move these new hires into permanent positions before taking on new permanent hires.”
Desmet says one of the main drivers for the observed increase in labour demand are infrastructure projects related to the stimulus packages which are now coming online across the country, especially railway and road projects.
“This is likely to lead to shortages in engineering professionals in VIC, QLD and WA. However, NSW remains against the trend with several local projects still on hold due to a lack of funding,” he says.
An ongoing issue for the building and engineering sector is the skilled migration that is not expected to satisfy Australia’s long-term labour needs.
