What is the landscape likely to look like for construction careers over the next 10 years?
What’s changing?
When we look back at the last 10 years, much of the work has been with the mid tiers and smaller builders. But this looks like it’s about to change. A lot of the work coming over the next 10 years is based around Queensland Health projects and the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games. The projects will all be of a substantial size where only the larger mid-tiers and top tiers will obtain the work due to the scope involved.
What about the smaller builders?
Of course, there may be the potential for the larger builders to tender out and engage other builders to do some of the work they’ve won. Though this is a possibility for the Olympic Games projects, it is not likely for the hospitals that have been earmarked to be built. The smaller builders will find business conditions more difficult with what’s on the horizon. The builders delivering these hospitals and Olympic Games projects will require staff and trades, and lots of them. They will pay well and make competing for these resources very difficult for the rest of the market.
In this light, we want to make you aware that there’s going to be a changing focus for construction work over the next 10 years, which will change how employment will look and where some people will be headed with their careers.
Career considerations – next 10 years
As there will be lots of work coming over the next 10 years involving mega projects, now would be a good time to think about how to prepare to set yourself up to be a part of that boom. You may need to look at the builder you’re with to determine if they can expand or grow into that work, or you could start aligning yourself with bigger builders or different project experiences. Start thinking about your career progression now, the projects coming up, and how you can arrive at the same spot where the work will be, aligning your career to the workload.
If larger builders or projects are not for you, then think about how you can position yourself within a smaller or mid tier builder to leverage from the competition they will face securing staff.
Which roles will benefit the most?
With so much hospital and Olympic Games work, all of which are services intensive and technical, generally speaking, roles that are less common, such as Services Engineers / Managers, BIM Engineers / Managers, Planners / Programmers, Site Engineers, and Project Engineers will have the greatest increase in demand. So a few roles will do particularly well out of the upcoming opportunities. If you’re thinking about any of these roles, there’s a lot of incentive to take your career in these directions as it’ll be a pretty good employment market for these roles for quite a few years.
SMs and CAs will also remain two big growth areas, but with the above roles, there is a distinct lack of capability to meet the upcoming demand. There is also a distinct lack of design capability in the market, so this will become a busy time for them as well.
What major QLD Health projects are planned?
The State government has committed $9.8 billion over the next 6 to 8 years to create three new hospitals in Coomera, Toowoomba, and Bundaberg, and a new $750 million cancer hospital in Brisbane. There will also be 11 major expansions to existing hospitals throughout Queensland, many in south-east Queensland like Ipswich, Redcliffe, Robina, and Logan. In Brisbane, the expansions will occur at the Queen Elizabeth ll Jubilee Hospital, the Princess Alexandra Hospital, and the Prince Charles Hospital.
For a full list of the planned hospitals and budget breakdown, VISIT HERE.
To summarise
Over the last 6 years particularly, there has not been an abundance of work for the top tiers. But now there’s a raft of upper mid tier / top tier projects that are coming on board that need to be delivered and built within 6-8 years. This is the first time we’ve seen this kind of market for more than a decade, particularly in Brisbane. So it will shift where the employment is.
Overall, there will be many career opportunities with the larger builders. So, if that’s where your interest lies, it’s looking good moving forward, and there are many positives on the horizon. But if you don’t want to work in that space, we can’t be 100% sure of how it will affect the smaller builders. The only thing we can say with certainty is that in a low unemployment market, it will make finding staff harder for them. On the flip side, this could present opportunities to progress your career quicker with a smaller or mid tier builder, as there may be fewer people competing for these jobs.
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