Australia Gains 22,900 Construction Jobs

Coming into 2021 employment throughout the design and building sector has now almost returned to pre-COVID levels with almost 23,000 jobs being created.

Quarterly data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that the number of people employed throughout Australia’s construction sector has increased by 22,900 or 2.0% from approximately 1.160 million in August to approximately 1.183 million in November (seasonally adjusted).

According to the data across the construction sector:

• Full time employment has increase by 41,900 from a low of 956,400 in August to near pre-COVID levels of 998,300 in November. Part time employment decreased by 18,300 from 196,100 to 177,800 after previously spiking in May and August.
• Queensland was the strongest market as the state added 11,100 workers, an increase of 5%. South Australia added 8,900 workers or 13.4% of its workforce whilst Victoria and New South Wales added 7,100 workers (2.4% of total) and 4,600 workers (1.1% of total) respectively.
• Employment in building construction rose by 24,100 employees or 7.2% and construction services increased by 17,100 employees or 2.4%.
  The latest report follows job vacancy data from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment which suggests that hiring picked up over the second half of the year after bottoming out in June.

According to that data, online job vacancies have increased from June to December for across various jobs. Construction managers roles have increased from 1,570 to 2,467, architects/landscape architects from 335 to 503, civil engineers from 872 to 1,373 and industrial engineers from 330 to 537.

Over that same period, trade related vacancies for carpenters/joiners have increased from 446 to 1,045, painting trades workers from 190 to 509, plumbers from 575 to 928 and electricians from 917 to 1,830.