Frustration at building supply chain delays causing projects to stall, is driving out critical workers, an official report finds. An Ipsos report, for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, reveals a new and emerging crisis in recruiting and retaining builders and tradies.
The report warns of construction workforce problems over the next five years. Ipsos surveyed 3856 construction customers and industry players late last year, including 1038 workers. It says 21 percent of workers were planning to leave New Zealand, 20 percent were planning to leave the construction sector in the next five years, 15 percent were planning to pause work to do extra training or study, and 14 percent were planning to pause work for personal reasons. And of course, this comes at a time when the industry's pipeline of overseas workers is shut down almost entirely by the pandemic border restrictions.
