Some of the hardest-hit areas will be in regional NSW and Victoria,where major road works will struggle for essential inputs and workers. The agency says the federal government needs to bring in more migrant engineers.
All levels of government,and the private sector,have reported large cost overruns due to a combination of worker shortages,problems with supply chains,and the sheer quantity of infrastructure work spread across the country over the past two years.
Infrastructure Australia found the nation’s construction-related workforce needs to grow by 127 per cent to meet a shortage of workers that will peak in the middle of next year.
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Of the 229,000 shortfall of full-time workers,the agency estimates 131,000 are in trades and labour. There are also significant shortages of engineers,architects and scientists.
The agency’s chief executive,Adam Copp,said on top of spending $230 billion in public infrastructure over the next five years,governments were hoping for the construction of 1.2 million new homes,as well as a quadrupling of spending in the energy sector.
“With so much construction activity under way,the industry is finding it increasingly difficult to source key building materials and workers – particularly engineers,skilled trades and labourers,” he said.