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Platinum Pacific Group Looks at the Chronic Lack of Labour in the Building Industry

Tuesday 1 March 2022, 12:52PM

By Beckie Wright

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With the widespread and chronic lack of both skilled and unskilled labour in the building industry, several members of the industry have called crisis meetings with ministers, and a leaked report shows more than 3000 workers are needed. The Government is being warned that homes, schools and hospitals won't be built unless it simplifies the border exemption process for construction workers. 

Most insiders in the construction sector  say there's a crisis looming for the industry, and many big industry bosses are begging for a solution to the labour shortage. Unemployment is near record lows, meaning there's not enough people looking for a job. 

Plenty of apprentices are taking to the tools but the industry is lacking experienced staff to train them. And construction firms are already paying staff up to 30 percent more – a cost some say is crippling.  

"What we're finding is we've tapped out the New Zealand market," ACE CEO Helen Davidson says. "We're looking at roles, like professional services, so engineering and architecture, to site managers, right through to builders.

The Government has allocated 60 spots in managed isolation hotels for construction workers each month but the industry says the immigration process to fill them is too hard, with some firms having to apply multiple times. "The system is very difficult to work through at the moment. We've got a three-phase system where you get a border exemption, then you get a visa, and then an MIQ position," says Civil Contractors NZ CEO Peter Silcock. 

The industry has asked the Government for immigration assistance with the process, and the addition of construction jobs to the 'approved classes of workers' list. A well-known engineering consultancy adds, “We have an ‘employee’ who was recruited 2 years ago, stuck on the wrong side of the border for 18 months now. His application just gets rejected repeatedly, even though we believe we meet the exceptional circumstances criteria.”  

Taking all this into consideration, Platinum Pacific still aim to provide their clients with the best possible outcome for their building project every time, so with this in mind, please take a moment to find out more about leaky home cladding and new home builders Auckland by visiting the website at www.platinumpacificgroup.co.nz