Construction Workforce Projections
The Construction Workforce Projections provides medium to long-term workforce/employment projections of the construction industry.
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About the report
The Construction Workforce Projections 2022-2027 provides workforce/employment projections of the construction industry from 2022 to 2027. Workforce projections broken down by sub-industry and demographic characteristics (such as employment status, region, occupation, and ethnicity) are also provided.
The aim of the report is to provide MBIE and the sector with information about the outlook of the construction workforce to help inform workforce planning, occupational training, and education scheduling.
Summary of the key findings
The number of people employed in the construction sector is expected to reach a peak of 292,600 in 2022. After a dip in 2023, the number employed is expected to resume growing until 2027, but at a relatively slower rate.
A breakdown by sub-industry shows:
- The number of people employed in residential building construction will remain stable, with growth expected to flatten between 2022 and 2027. Specifically, growth is expected to slow to a rate of 3% over those 6 years, compared to the 25% increase seen in the 3 years up to 2021.
- The non-residential building construction employment numbers are also expected to flatten to around 9,000 between 2023 and 2027, after three years of declining numbers.
- The heavy and civil engineering construction employment numbers are expected to remain strong, benefiting from the more optimistic outlook of infrastructure construction activities during the forecasting period. It is expected that there will be a small and steady growth in the number employed from 30,800 in 2021 to 34,100 in 2027.
- Employment in construction services (which comprises land development and site preparation services, building structure services, building installation services, and building completion services) reflects the activities of the whole construction sector, and mimics the pattern of total construction employment projections. It is expected to peak at 160,100 in 2022, followed by a dip to 157,800 in 2023, before recovering to 160,200 in 2027.
Report
Construction Workforce Projections 2022-2027(external link) — MBIE Shinyapps page