Demand for experts to help rebuild city

The demand for engineers needed for seismic and structural assessments in Christchurch, which is likely to last for several years, is pushing up salaries. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Every Friday night, planes flying out of Christchurch are filled with an assortment of project managers, engineers and builders returning to their homes around the country, having gone some way to restoring the city to some kind of normality.

There is no doubt that the earthquakes have led to a mini-boom for the engineering industry - engineers are in huge demand for inspecting buildings, checking and reconnecting infrastructure and for finding solutions to the soil liquefaction problem Christchurch faces.

Hugh Morrison, chief executive of Arrow International, a company that builds large infrastructure projects, says his firm has been busy checking on damaged houses for AMI Insurance as its project management office.

The company is using its geotechnical engineers to look at the foundations of houses and their liquefaction problems.

In the CBD there is demand for structural and civil engineers to inspect the damage.

The first influx of engineers did basic inspections of CBD buildings. Now multiple inspections are necessary after every aftershock.

"It's sucking up engineers from around the country," says Morrison.

Arrow has had the staff available to do the work thanks largely to the recession.

"The recession had bitten a bit later in the construction industry," says Morrison. "The earthquake helped fill that gap for us."

The industry is now seeing salaries rise by as much as 10 per cent as shortages occur in certain areas, especially among the construction engineers and geotechnical engineers, Morrison says.

Consultancy firm Beca has also drawn on its pool of engineering experts to play its part in Christchurch, doing seismic and structural assessments and infrastructural work at the wastewater treatment plant for the Christchurch City Council.

"We have been stretched but also we are blessed by the pool of resources," says Craig Price, Beca's Christchurch-based executive director and regional manager.

"We have 200 people based in the South Island and about 20 to 25 per cent beyond the normal numbers are coming in.

"It's been a blend of bringing in people who we know well, who know Beca, working alongside local people.

"We've also recruited a number of new people."

Some Christchurch expats working overseas have also wanted to return to help the city.

"We've also been getting a number of inquiries from the United Kingdom [from] engineers who see an opportunity to grow themselves."

"Beca is doing its annual graduate recruiting and will be taking on 70 to 80 new graduates this year.

"Beca is in no danger of recruiting too many," says Price. "The reality is this is a five to 10-year recovery."

Meanwhile, life goes on in the rest of the country. Consultancy Aecom says its projects outside Christchurch, which include the design of the new Auckland rail electrification project and the upgrade to Wellington's Mt Victoria Tunnel, are two of several significant projects that continue to dominate its work schedule.

But it says the engineering industry has undoubtedly been affected by the Christchurch disaster.

"The vision for the recovery of Christchurch will influence the degree of demand for engineers in the city.

"It does hold the exciting possibility to rival Auckland for the demand for talented engineers," says the recruitment specialist for Aecom, Dominic Henderson.

Aecom recruits engineers globally, leveraging its 600 offices across 100 countries to find professionals with the right skills and experience to work on New Zealand projects.

"Often overseas engineers need to up-skill on New Zealand-specific codes or practices," says Henderson.

But many engineers recruited from overseas are likely to prefer Auckland to Christchurch, says Ben Young, managing director of 360 Search, a recruitment firm that specialises in urban design.

"Auckland and Christchurch are going to be the two engines of the job economy," says Young.

He says Auckland is planning a number of key projects which will require skilled workers, including The Crossing, the next project in the Goodman Property Trust's Highbrook Business Park.

Generally in Auckland, there will be more demand for residential building because of the lack of housing supply. "By next year there will be an uptake in residential construction," he says.

Hays, the biggest recruitment company for engineers, said in its April-June report that the rebuild of Christchurch would have a considerable impact on the construction and engineering sectors, with increased demand for CAD drafters, highway design engineers, civil engineers, structural engineers and geotechnical engineers.

Since the Christchurch earthquakes, Wellington and Auckland have also been looking at their buildings, says Jason Walker, Hays' managing director in New Zealand.

"This has really been a wake-up call for many people across the country."

Hays, which has offices in 31 countries, has been recruiting engineers from overseas.

Salaries for engineers in other countries are still 30 or 40 per cent higher than New Zealand, says Walker.

Therefore the sales pitch still rests on the quality of life in New Zealand, but he agrees that salaries are rising slightly for engineers.

Walker says Christchurch will face international competition for engineering talent from February or March next year.

The city has been used by big consultancy firms as a buffer.

"That's why the likes of Beca have been able to redeploy spare capacity.

"But once other markets pick up, they will have issues."