• 8000 carpenters and joiners, electricians, plumbers, painters, bricklayers, drain layers, gasfitters, insulation installers and motor mechanics.
• 4650 truck drivers, logistics clerks, machine operators and structural steel workers including scaffolders.
• 5850 commercial cleaners, plumbing and building labourers.
• 2450 architectural building, survey and engineering technicians, and contract administrators, all New Zealand diploma qualified or similar.
At present, 162,000 people work in the construction and infrastructure sector in Auckland with 49,000 directly employed. The number is expected to soar to nearly 200,000 based on the pipeline of new projects.
The working group, sponsored by Fletcher Building, Hawkins Construction, Naylor Love Construction and Dominion Constructors, says in its Workforce Skills Roadmap report: "Unprecedented levels of growth in building and construction are forecast in the immediate future in New Zealand, dominated by Auckland."
The construction activity will peak in 2018/19 and increase 44 per cent on the work completed in 2013. New house building will more than double over the next decade, with an increase in apartments and townhouses - and 70 per cent of all residential growth will take place by 2018.
The construction and infrastructure sector contributed $7.9 billion to the Auckland regional economy in 2012/13 and is expected to rise to $11.4 billion in 2018/19.
The "wall of work" will include the Downtown Shopping Centre redevelopment (worth more than $400 million), SkyCity's $500 million international conference centre, Wynyard Quarter residential and commercial development, Quay St and waterfront upgrade, three new luxury hotels in the Wynyard Quarter, at SkyCity and in the $350 million, 52-level NDG Auckland Centre tower building, the University of Auckland's Newmarket campus on the old Lion Breweries site, new combined international and domestic terminal at Auckland Airport, the $2.4 billion City Rail Link and $1.5 billion Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative (Ameti).
Auckland Council has struck an accord with central government to fast-track the building of 39,000 new homes in 17 Special Housing Areas over the next three years.
Wynyard Quarter will take 1500 apartments housing between 2500-4000 residents.
Knowing they will have to employ or contract more staff, the major construction firms operating in Auckland are gearing up by:
• Organising in-house training programmes.
• Promoting the wide-ranging construction opportunities to students and supporting tertiary education institutes.
• Attracting talented staff from overseas.
Geoff Hunt, chief executive officer of Hawkins Group, says the next decade is an exciting time for the construction industry in Auckland. "It presents great opportunities for people to enter the industry at all levels. The sector is not just about hard hats, orange vests and hammers - it is very professional.
"We have to raise the awareness of the opportunities and explain to the school leavers and university students the type of jobs available. We need engineers, project managers, planners and architects just as much as project builders and sub-contractors," he says.
"There are concerns about the trades, particularly electrical, heating and ventilation, and if there's not enough locally, then we will have to bring in people from offshore. But that's more expensive."
Hunt says the volume will pick up in Auckland over the next two years when the work flattens out in Christchurch - so there will be a labour supply from the south.
Hawkins, like other major construction firms, is running a management training programme and upskilling staff in new 3D build-on-screen technology.
Hawkins will also form joint ventures with overseas firms for appropriate projects that require additional skills and technology.
Graham Darlow, chief executive officer of Fletcher Construction, says his company is planning to increase recruitment over the next two years -- both locally and internationally. The number of new positions will be dictated by the results of tendering for projects.
The Fletcher Group, which has a training and development budget of $6.6 million, is launching a new two-year employment programme for graduates. This year its established training and development programmes involved 6875 employees.
Fletcher has partnered with Ministry of Social Development, Te Puni Kokiri, Department of Corrections, The First Foundation and Limited Service Volunteers to provide employment opportunities for youth. Fletcher is also a founding partner on the Auckland Council's mayoral task force to reduce youth unemployment.
Derrick Adams, chief executive officer of HEB Construction, says the industry has under-invested in trade skills.
"There is an issue around foremen and supervisors. They are all good guys but they are getting older. We have to invest in internal training so new ones become foremen and the older ones supervisors."
He says there is never a great dollop of highly skilled, really employable people available for every position advertised. "But I'm confident that with internal training and graduate programmes, and a degree of recruitment - especially people returning to New Zealand - we can meet the expected demand."
