Employment in building and construction hits fresh high

news Date published 4 8 2016 , Age 8 years ago

Construction and construction-related jobs in New Zealand are on the rise due to higher demand for housing, factories and offices, rail and road links, and water supply, and this trend is set to continue for years to come.

This is great news for NMIT students on or about to start your qualification in civil engineering or carpentry. No matter what your specialisation: be it building inspector, building surveyor, construction project manager, foreman, project builder, project manager, quantity surveyor, surveyor, survey technician or urban planner - your future job prospects look strong.

For detailed information, the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment has created this national construction job projection tool(external link), with links to investment projections, graphs and tables, highlighting demand for construction workers to 2021.

In brief:

A total of $14.4million is to be invested over four years for 5,500 more apprentices by 2020
An additional $9.5 million has been allocated for Māori and Pasifika Trades Training
Total value of building and construction work in NZ is forecast to top $200 billion by 2021
As of 2016, 232,000 people in NZ work in the construction industry, and 490,000 in construction-related occupations
By 2021, more than 500,000 people in NZ will be employed in construction-related occupations.

As of 2014, the number of people employed in the construction industry in the Nelson Tasman region grew to just over 1,500. In the Marlborough region, heavy and civil engineering jobs rose by 8.0%, construction services increased by 5.1% and building construction increased by 0.5% in the year to 2015.

Source: Budget 2016 and Statistics New Zealand.