CSQ reveal plans to boost construction skills on the Downs
With an additional several billion dollars of development planned for the Darling Downs region over the next few years, local builders are concerned more forethought is going to be needed.
Toowoomba
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Toowoomba’s building industry is facing a skills shortage as major projects and housing construction booms across the Darling Downs.
Richard Adams Homes project manager Jackson Adams, who started as an apprentice in the family business in 2006 said the building industry was experiencing issues as a result of the current housing boom despite the extra work it has created.
“A number of local builders have actually been put out because of the Government’s first homeowners building grant because it’s created shortages that were overlooked by the government when they were first created,” he said.
“It’s hard to say how long the wait to build locally is right now but you wouldn’t be able to start building with us for the next 10 months.”
Mr Adams said there wasn’t enough incentive for experienced tradespeople to stay in the industry, exacerbating skills shortage issues during booming times.
“There are a lot of youngsters fresh out of high school looking for work who are motivated to get on the tools and earn a trade, but the way the workplace is set up you really need to have two apprentices to one tradesperson,” he said.
“So trade based businesses are set up to be very reliant on experienced tradespeople in order to train up these new apprentices.
“There are currently plenty of incentives for apprentices but there needs to be more incentives for skilled tradespeople to stick around with their industries because now we’re seeing sustainability of tradespeople becoming a real issue which becomes more apparent when we experience a building boom like the one we’re in right now.”
According to Construction Skills Queensland, the Darling Downs construction workforce is currently sized at around 12,700 people, with 1050 apprentices in-training.
A recent CSQ analysis shows skilled workers in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs region were in high demand and planning was under way to boost the necessary skills.
CSQ CEO Brett Schimming said the better-than-expected Darling Downs forecast was thanks to a surge in home building fuelled by record low interest rates and government stimulus, including the HomeBuilder scheme.
“We have been predicting an increased demand for heavy and civil construction workers for some time now as the local industry has been driven by larger commercial and infrastructure assets,” he said.
21 developments and projects across the Toowoomba region we’re waiting for this year
“Regional home building is expected to be around 50 per cent higher than before the pandemic, a figure that was almost unthinkable at the beginning of COVID-19.
“We are now expecting a tighter labour market than we had forecast prior to the pandemic, placing an increased importance on training the local workforce.
“However, this unexpected surge in home building will create work for a wider range of building trades as projects like the Habitat Mount Kynoch development are brought forward.
“CSQ’s focus is on ensuring existing workers have the skills they need to complete all of what will be asked of the Darling Downs industry over the coming years.”
“CSQ is tracking 240 major construction projects confirmed for delivery over the next two to three years in the Darling Downs and a further 155 potential projects planned but not yet committed.”
Mr Schimming said the project pipeline is valued at between $9.1 billion (committed) and $32.2 billion (committed and potential) and is forecast to deliver between 3,553 (committed) and 15,779 jobs (committed and potential) for the region.
Mr Adams believes the Queensland Government should have planned for the building boom better by extending the HomeBuilder grant period out past the initial six months so that the workload could have been more spread out and better managed.
“The lack of labour and increased price of materials is now having a negative impact on the local building industry,” he said.
“Because of the boom everyone’s been putting their prices up which makes it hard because we priced our homes six months ago, so our profit margins are a lot lower.
“So we are in a bit of a difficult time in the market, despite all the extra jobs this lot of grants has helped to create but we just have to deal with the cards we’ve been dealt now and try and make the most of it because it’s probably too late to try and amend the problems that have arisen.”
CSQ has named the top five major construction projects it considers to be of greatest future influence in the region, from an economic, cityscape and social perspective:
1. Inland Rail (the project is estimated to cost $4.9 billion)
2. Gatton Jail ($618.8 million)
3. Toowoomba Hospital Redevelopment ($1.6 billion)
4. MacIntyre Wind Farm ($2 billion)
5. Habitat Mt Kynoch $200 million)
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