The main difficulty in reviewing the present policy has been to determine the present employment situation in the construction industry. Reports from individual companies vary widely. To try to get better information, in October the Commissioner for Census and Statistics conducted a special survey. He found that 70 800 manual workers were working on active construction sites and there were about 9 300
300 job openings for which steps were being taken to recruit personnel. But for a number of reasons including the traditionally rapid movement of labour within the industry and frequent changes in the nature of work on individual sites, he emphasises that his findings should be treated with caution. Also, they are not limited to skilled workers.
workers. With these important provisos the findings do indicate a vacancy rate in the construction industry of 11%. This is higher than that of around 5% for the total manufacturing workforce.
9
its
The Government's recent experience with engineering and building contracts is that there have not been the sort of delays and increased tender prices that would suggest a major labour shortage. A review of 400
400 contracts showed delays only slightly longer than normal. For Government departments' contracts there has been no steep increase, with the tender price index increasing by only 8% over last year and by only
only 3% for building projects (although that for public housing projects was as high as 20%).
10
As regards shortages of individual skills, movements in wages are a good indicator. From December 1986 to August 1987 the wages that increased by more than 20% were for masons (by 36% to $248 a day), for steelbenders (by 25% to $339), for carpenters and joiners (by 21% to $253), for terrazzo and granolithic workers (by 25% to $265) and for pneumatic drillers (by 22% to $244).
Possible Solutions
11
The possible answers to the problems the construction industry may be facing are not limited to
to importing labour. One answer is to increase productivity. Productivity does seem to have increased in recent years. Whereas in terms of volume the output of the construction industry was virtually the same in 1986 as in 1981, the numbers employed fell
fell by about a quarter from roughly 90 000 to 64 000. Most of the improvements seem to have taken place from 1981 to 1983. With labour generally in short supply,
in short supply, contractors have a further incentive to improve productivity to meet the increased demands on the construction industry.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.