WANTED: Engineers

The demand for qualified civil engineers is set to take off as the Government's new infrastructure plan is implemented, says Tim Davin, director of policy for the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ).

Davin says polytechs and universities produce around 760 civil engineers annually at the Bachelor's degree (BE) level but an additional 260 will be needed each year.

"The Government commitment of infrastructure spend is in a number of areas, including transport, rail, electricity - at the lines company level, the national grid and generation - broadband and local government water and waste water," Davin says.

The Government's National Infrastructure Plan is a 20-year strategy to be updated every three years. Over the next five years, the Government is budgeting for $7.5 billion which, it says, will support thousands of jobs.

Civil engineers will be needed in all areas of infrastructure development. Even broadband will require engineers to co-ordinate the alignment of routes for underground cables.

"The situation is promising for civil engineers and all the other related disciplines," Davin says.

So, how could New Zealand find itself short of 260 engineers a year?

"There was a relatively low level of expenditure through the 1990s and early 2000s and therefore there weren't the jobs."

With the recession, commercial development and property development slowed which hit structural and civil engineers hard. But there are plenty of career opportunities with good pay coming soon. Davin does not believe the infrastructure spend-up will create an artificial bubble in the industry.

"Hopefully, this represents sustainable and continuing growth of our infrastructure which is an important contribution to growth in the economy."

Often engineers find satisfaction and sense of purpose in their careers. "I think that the appeal of engineering to many people is that it requires not just the design and creativity side but engineers enjoy overseeing the construction of their designs."

Early in their careers, civil engineers have hands-on experience managing the people who are constructing their structures. They work with a cross-section of society, from labourers to professional colleagues and need to be able to communicate on all levels. They are second only to doctors as the most trustworthy profession, according to IPENZ research. There is also a certain pride to be gleaned from completing projects.

"The most satisfying thing for engineering is that many engineers can look back at things they've been responsible for in the way of structures as opposed to reports. A high level of job satisfaction comes from that."