A number of multibillion dollar infrastructure projects set to start in New Zealand over the course of the next decade are threatened by a shortage of engineers and technical professionals in the country.
The development of the Transmission Gully in Wellington, the $1.5 billion ultrafast broadband rollout, and upgrades to rail and electricity transmission networks are some of the projects running the risk of seeing timeframes and costs being pushed out due to a shortage of workers.
“There is a global shortage of engineers and to some extent we’re competing with that,” commented Tim Davin, public policy director of the Institution of Professional Engineers, who believes that New Zealand is about to experience an unprecedented level of projects.
"We're not well-equipped. It's an ongoing issue that we do have people in the country who have some skills, but there's probably not enough of them with the right ones, especially on the roading side,” said Rob Law MaxRecruitment senior technical consultant Daniel Hopkins.
According to Jane Farley, board member of the Project Management Institute, all these projects will create a high demand for project managers. The institute has established an office in Sydney to help meet anticipated demand for these workers in New Zealand and Australia over the next few years.
