Finance Minister Bill English says the prospects for young people seeking jobs in the construction industry are now better than ever.
Housing shortages, state housing developments and the ongoing Christchurch rebuild were creating numerous opportunities for young people wanting to enter the industry, the minister said today.
Mr English was speaking at the opening of a new construction school at the Wellington School of Technology in Petone.
"I don't regard the discussion about skills shortage as a problem," Mr English told an audience of Weltec staff, construction sector executives and council staff.
"Skill shortages are fantastic. For young New Zealanders that is the best news they could get because they are valuable as long as they can get to the start line with the basic skills."
He said huge demand was being created in the Wellington region by new roading projects and redevelopment of the state housing sector, and nationally by the Christchurch rebuild and Auckland housing shortage.
"The prospects of steady growth, a good pipeline of work ... is better than it has been for a long time," he said.
The Wellington Northern Corridor roading project alone was expected to create nearly 900 permanent jobs.
A recent Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment report said labour shortages in the construction industry were expected to persist for at least three years.
At present, the demand for skilled labour was mostly being met by increased immigration.
Certified Builders Association chief Mike Craig said the new construction school was "badly needed".
"The young guys need this sort of comprehensive training. With the old training courses, the guys just went out to the building sites to build, whereas this is much more hands-on."
And while the new Weltec school would produce much-needed young labourers, Mr Craig said the industry would be playing catch-up for years.
He said it took at least six years before a young builder had the skills required for building houses.
"You're not just going to get a builder out of here and say 'Go build a house'. He's still going to need supervision for a while, it's not just instant."
Mr Craig said demand for builders was not only being caused by housing shortages but by a trend of more experienced builders retiring earlier.
New, stricter regulations had deterred many older builders from staying in the industry, he said.
"We've got a lot dropping off, guys who are 55 have good careers have decided they're not going to conform and they'll maybe build fences instead and wind down their businesses."
- By Isaac Davison of the New Zealand Herald
