MBA AUSTRALIA ECONOMIC UPDATE: Labour and training in Australia’s construction industry
The ACT’s labour market has long been the source of some of Australia’s best economic news. For years before the pandemic, Canberra consistently returned Australia’s lowest unemployment rate. This made our city an attractive destination for migrant workers – both from overseas as well as from other parts of Australia. In the early days of the pandemic, the ACT economy seemed well placed to endure what was coming. The local unemployment rate dropped to just 2.8 per cent in February 2020 and our large public sector meant employment and demand in the local economy enjoyed a thicker firewall than many parts of the country. However, the 2021 lockdown painfully demonstrated the ACT was no less vulnerable than others. The unemployment rate spiked at 6.6 per cent during October, the highest since July 1998, and a performance which propelled us to the top of the unemployment ladder nationally. When lockdown restrictions relaxed, we saw employment begin to recover. Despite this the ACT stood alone in ending 2021 as the only jurisdiction in worse shape than at the start of the year. As pandemic disruptions lift in the ACT and across the country, we are seeing job vacancies rise and economic demand grow. In December, the number of online job ads in Australia was 45 per cent higher than the historic average. In the ACT, job ads were more than double historic averages for painters and building labourers and nearly double for carpenters and plumbers. Businesses all over the country are telling us that workers and subbies are in short supply, creating project delays and increasing costs. While the current intensity of labour shortages will likely subside, some pressure will remain. Our
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MASTER BUILDERS ASSOCIATION NEWS EDITION 1 2022
latest analysis estimates more than 327,000 construction trade apprentices and labourers will need to enter the workforce over the next five years. Construction is the number one apprentice employer nationally, in every state and territory. 50,758 apprentices commenced in our industry in the year to 30 June 2021, a record intake. The Government’s Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements initiative was critical to achieving this record and is why we are calling for its extension. Training is not limited to new entrants, existing workers also need to maintain and update their skills. Short courses and the like are often best placed for training on emerging issues, e.g. silica awareness, and in areas where you don’t need a piece of paper at the end, e.g. computer skills, budgeting or marketing. If you’re muddling through with more questions than answers see what courses might be available – Master Builders ACT has quite a few, with the added bonus of them being tailored to our industry. To meet labour and skills needs we are calling on the Government to: > Continue employer wage subsidies for apprentices, > Improve careers education to help students understand vocational pathways, > Change the vocational funding model to incentivise quality outcomes, > Continue workforce diversity initiatives, such as Women Building Australia, and > Open our borders to skilled migrants, international students and working holiday makers.
