Australia’s building boom is no secret and as the latest figures show employment in the industry has reached yet another high. Over the last four years, the industry has seen 156,000 construction jobs added to its headcount.1  No mean feat when you compare this to other industries. In fact, the data suggests that our biggest gains were seen in the civil and heavy construction industry, where employment rose by 44% or 26,800 jobs.2 What is driving this growth, you ask? $51.2 billion spent on building and engineering in March quarter 20183 227,010 new houses and units as at March 31st 20184 $4.536 billion spent on road construction in5 Mega rail projects in QLD, NSW, VIC and WA 684 cranes in major Australian cities 6 While the civil and construction industry maintains strong growth, the demand for tradies as a result is skyrocketing. Yet, we are coming up short across the board trying to meet these skill demands. Across Australia, an estimated 84% of residential construction sites are reporting trade shortages in skills such as bricklaying, ceramic tiling, plastering, carpentry, landscaping, roofing, site preparation, joinery, painting and plumbing. 7 The Jobs Report, recruitment outfit Hays has found Australia’s most in-demand trade … Continue reading Building Boom Creates More Construction Jobs