Graduate Opportunities

The infrastructure / civil construction industry involves the construction or repair of infrastructure such as roads and pavements, bridges, dams, airport runways and site preparation. It also includes services such as earthworks, roadmarking and the installation of utilities. The industry is a fundamental one in both Australia and New Zealand.

The industry is cyclic and any economic changes are felt early within this sector. This industry is also partly influenced by the building construction industry, as some civil construction projects provide support to building and construction activities. For example, new roads and services are needed to support any new residential housing development.

Degrees in engineering, IT, project management, building and design are all highly valued in the industry. Technological improvements will demand more highly skilled workers at all levels of the industry and ongoing training will become increasingly important.

Outlook

The number of people employed in the industry has steadily risen over the last couple of decades and the outlook for the next few years is good. As New Zealand’s population grows, there is increasing demand for the expansion of infrastructure or new infrastructure projects throughout the country.

Since 2004 there has been a dramatic increase in employment growth due to strong investment in infrastructure and increased investment from businesses. Road demands are growing with population growth, an increase in car ownership, commercial and industrial development and international and domestic tourism.

Although building and construction professionals constitute a relatively low proportion of the industry, there are opportunities for graduates to obtain employment with local government, civil engineering contractors, large firms, private construction companies, specialist skills firms and in their own businesses.

Significant stats

The Construction industry is the second-

largest indusry in New Zealand after Wholesale and Retail Trade. In addition, its share of the total workforce is growing. Of special note is the increase in full-time employees (FTEs) -- 44,100 between the 2001 and 2006 census.

As of 2006, the industry employed 149,000 FTEs, which equated to 8.5 per cent of the entire NZ workforce.

$660 million extra funding for roading was announced by the Government in June 2005.

Statistics sources: “Occupation and Industry Employment 1991-2016” report by Business and Economic Research Ltd (BERL) for Careers Services using statistics from New Zealand Census 1991 and 2006.

Except where indicated, profile content is based on edited extracts from www.careers.govt.nz