There have been increasing calls for more urgent infrastructure delivery and central Government involvement in the country’s biggest city. Video / NZ Herald
Hundreds of engineering staff have been laid off in the past year and another 270 have left for overseas, the Association of Consulting and Engineering (ACE) says.
ACE chief executive Helen Davidson said the real number of lost jobs in the sector was probably much higher.
“ACE represents more than270 engineering and consulting firms around the country and this report includes data from 71 of those businesses, so things are probably much worse than we know,” Davidson said.
But despite the job numbers, most firms were optimistic about the sector’s prospects.
More than 760 people were made redundant at New Zealand engineering consultancy firms in the past year, another 270 left for jobs overseas, another 126 people moved to other roles within New Zealand and 50 set off for unknown locations, ACE said.
That meant firms had lost 1206 people in the past year.
But the new ACE report showed 86% of firms in the sector were confident business would pick up in the next 12 months.
Davidson told the Herald that upbeat attitude was partly due to the Government prioritising long-term infrastructure investment, and partly due to expectations of the economy recovering after last year’s recession.
ACE carried out the survey every three to four months, and this one was conducted before the Donald Trump administration made last week’s tariff announcements.
“It’s probably too soon to say what the impact of tariffs will be,” Davidson said.
She said the Infrastructure Commission was working on a 30-year plan.
The Government last year said that plan would ensure more stability of infrastructure priorities.
Davidson said companies had been seeing more positive indications about roading projects and other public sector infrastructure.
“We know that there’s work that will be ramping up in the school property portfolio, across health, and justice.”
She said there were also expectations of more private sector residential projects.
Davidson said the past year was tough for the consulting sector and some firms found it increasingly hard to operate while the Government was reviewing and changing how to plan, fund and deliver infrastructure.
Of respondents, 71% reported slowdowns in residential development, 49% in vertical construction, 23% in transport and 17% in water.
National crane numbers were down by 15% in this year’s first quarter and down 23.5% in Auckland, according to the Rider Levett Bucknall Crane Index.
“We now have new frameworks and structures in place for better infrastructure planning and delivery, and there have been some significant funding announcements,” Davidson said.
“But many businesses are still struggling because of the lag between investment announcements and work coming to market. Business leaders have told us they’ve had to restructure, make redundancies, reduce staff hours or cut other operating costs.”
ACE said 59% of businesses were moderately prepared and 25% were very prepared for an increase in workflow over the next six months to a year,
And 11% felt unprepared and 4% were unsure.
“To lose this many skilled professionals in such a short time is scary,” Davidson said. “These are experienced engineers and technical specialists that we’ll need to rely on when the infrastructure work ramps up again.
“Not only is this issue challenging for our sector – it will have a significant impact on our economy long-term, as well as the communities we serve.”
Most of the engineering firms surveyed believed there was light at the end of the tunnel. Photo / Supplied
ACE said it met with Engineering New Zealand, Civil Contractors New Zealand and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop last month to discuss the lack of work for engineers and contractors in the construction and infrastructure sectors.
Davidson says the organisations asked the Government to take urgent action to get infrastructure works started and funding flowing.
“They raised the importance of encouraging government agencies to prioritise and bring forward renewal and maintenance work, particularly in roading and water infrastructure.”
Davidson added: “We welcome the Government’s commitment to infrastructure investment and a reform programme that aims to reduce barriers to getting work started. However, we know that systemic change takes time, and we are advocating for action now.
“It’s vital that we retain the skilled workers we need to deliver infrastructure priorities and then aim to get a more visible, well signalled and consistent flow of funding in the future.”
