The shortage of workers for major resources and infrastructure projects will peak at 31,000 in early 2023 and continue at high levels for several years, new modelling has found.
The shortage of workers for major resources and infrastructure projects will peak at 31,000 in early 2023 and continue at high levels for several years, new modelling has found.
Pit Crew Management Consulting Services said demand for construction workers on new projects in Western Australia would jump from 18,000 currently to about 28,000.
There would also be significant growth in the number of workers holding permanent operational roles in the state’s resources sector, from around 120,000.
In addition, the resources sector would continue to employ about 5,000 people working just on maintenance shutdowns.
Pit Crew director Peter Dyball said there was already a shortage of about 25,000 workers on major WA projects and he anticipated this would continue for another four to five years.
The shortage would spike to 31,000 in the first quarter of 2023 when the total demand for workers on major WA projects was expected to reach 166,000.
Mr Dyball said WA had traditionally relied on workers from interstate to meet peaks in demand but this was increasingly difficult.
“The most significant influence is competition from eastern states (infrastructure) projects,” Mr Dyball said at the launch of his latest report this morning.
“The pandemic has compounded the situation and turned it from difficult to diabolical.”
Mr Dyball said another factor was competition for workers from other industries in WA, including residential construction and agriculture.
While wage rates have not increased substantially in WA, Mr Dyball said there was widespread evidence of businesses paying ridiculous bonuses to attract and retain staff.
Mitigating strategies that businesses could employ included targeted interstate recruitment along with training and upskilling programs.
This aligns with the WA government’s recently announced response to WA’s labour shortages.
Mr Dyball said one area that needed more attention was ensuring projects had experienced and properly trained supervisors.
“Training of managers and supervisors is more important than training of skilled occupations,” he said.
This was particularly important as labour shortages meant the workers that are on construction sites are under stress and need even more support.
Mr Dyball said the shortage of experienced supervisors during the last resources construction boom had a huge impact.
