Australia’s construction sector expanded last month
TPM Builders/blog/Job prospects expected to remain strong in 2017
Builders and construction professionals shouldn’t be too disheartened about industry contraction, since reports show a strong demand for workers… It looks like 2017 is off to a promising start for the commercial construction industry, when it comes to job prospects. Although the sector ended 2016 in contraction, this hasn’t appeared to have a negative impact on the demand for tradespeople and building professionals in certain areas. In fact, there’s still strong demand for experienced workers across different project types. We’ve briefly examined the steady stream of employment opportunities flowing in, thanks to the surge in apartment building activity across Australia. Building approvals for apartments and units jumped by 17.3 per cent in November last year. Breaking it down by region, NSW and the ACT are leading the way, when it comes to job prospects, according to a report by recruitment company Hays. Demand for workers is also strong across all sectors in Victoria, because there are good opportunities within the civil sector. A number of commercial and infrastructure projects are also popping up in South Australia and Western Australia, boosting demand in both states. Construction companies in Queensland and NSW are looking for estimators, as well as contract administrators, who are in short supply across the nation. Large-scale inner city projects, in particular, could use more contract administrators. There’s a general demand for site managers with residential and commercial experience, but Queensland is specifically on the hunt for site managers who can boast of defence industry experience. A number of new defence projects and upgrades are currently underway in Queensland. When it comes to trades, it seems that qualified carpenters are in hot demand, since there’s a general shortage of people who can do this work across Australia. Civil labourers looking for work may have luck in Queensland, where a number of projects need filing. Another option is to consider heading to the Northern Territory or ACT, where short-term roles have become available. There’s also a growing need for bricklayers, blocklayers and shopfitters in Queensland.
