The construction industry in New Zealand is struggling with building companies going to the wall and a spike in the number of workers dying by suicide or suspected suicide. Photo / Michael Craig
Construction workers who were pushed to breaking point after being laid off during the Covid years contributed to a spike in suicides in the sector, according to one expert.
That’s despite a multi-billion-dollar payout to keep people in work via the government’s Covid Wage Subsidy scheme.
Victoria University suicide bereavement researcher and lecturer Dr Chris Bowden told NZ Herald Property Editor Anne Gibson some labourers didn’t have a guaranteed income and were left high and dry when Covid restrictions forced building companies to down tools.
“He said there were a lot of people who work in construction who only actually get paid for the hours worked. So, he said there was a lot of distress in the lower paid labouring workforce,” Gibson said.
Eighty people died by suicide or suspected suicide in New Zealand last year - more than double that of 2019 when there were 38.
Mates in Construction released the figures and said workers pulling long hours, not getting enough sleep and being up against tight deadlines also factored into the increase.
There was also a concerning number of people in the industry who were self-harming, with 1628 construction workers deliberately hurting themselves and taking time off last year.
Bowden said people used self-harm as a coping strategy when they felt overwhelmed.
“He gave examples of people cutting and burning themselves and punching walls,” Gibson said.
It didn’t help that the construction industry had become known for having a culture of old-school masculinity, but younger workers were pushing back against those attitudes, he said.
“Young people have very different views and perspectives on what masculinity is. So, he sees quite a change occurring on the site. They will eventually outnumber the older people,” Gibson said.
Gibson said there were signs of regeneration in the sector, but it was continuing to experience difficulties even with inflation starting to fall.
“The liquidators or receivers or insolvency practitioners will often refer back to Covid. We’re out of that, but actually, the ramifications on those businesses are still continuing, and they also quite often cite the downturn in the housing market, and they talk about the price escalation in terms of labour costs and material, and actually even getting some of the material sometimes can be very difficult,” she said.
The most recent example of stress in the sector was the Seascape saga, which was meant to be New Zealand’s tallest apartment building.
Work stopped on the $300 million dollar project in downtown Auckland after a feud between the builder and the developer.
“There were a lot of companies that are owed money by China Construction. China Construction says it cannot pay them until the developer of this 56-level, 180-something metre tower actually pays them, so that’s a very difficult situation,” she said.
Listen to the full episode for more on the issues facing the construction sector.
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