A survey of ARF members on the current skills crisis in the Australian road industry has underlined the importance of governments providing longer-term planning and funding programs.
The Survey was conducted during October and the findings presented at the ARF Forum meeting in Brisbane on November 16.
The Skills Survey asked respondents whether the industry as a whole had the skills to deliver Commonwealth and state road programs – on time and budget – over the next decade.
Four out of five respondents indicated the skills crisis would impact negatively on the industry’s capability to deliver work over the next two to five years, while 41% of respondents believed the skills shortage would still be impacting negatively in the longer term (6-10 years).
Among other key findings in the ARF survey:
. engineers and field supervisors were identified as the skills currently most in demand, with nine out of ten respondents who employ people in these categories reporting shortages;
. respondents also reported that specialist equipment operators and trades, and road construction workers, were in serious short supply;
. Queensland and WA were nominated as being the worst off for shortages in all major road industry skill categories;
. while 55% of respondents said the skills crisis was currently manageable, 44% described it as serious, affecting their ability to plan for and deliver work;
. the shortage of graduates/trainees and the impact of an aging workforce/retirements were both identified as significant problems for the road industry;
. for individual players, the poaching of staff by competitors was seen as a significant issue – a reflection of the restrictive size of the skills pool.
The Survey results were referred to in an article on the skills crisis in the Australian Financial Review.
“I don’t think the survey findings will come as any great shock to the industry,” said ARF Chief Executive, Ian Webb.
“What’s important is that we now have some hard evidence we can present to the incoming Federal Government to seek action on this issue.”
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Wednesday December 5th 2007 10:36am