Hays Construction & Property - April 2007

Public Sector

Hotspots

• High demand exists for suitably qualified contract technical trade candidates, such as steel fixers and concrete labourers, due to the number of infrastructure projects underway. Key technical trade opportunities within the next three months are expected to be within Local Government and Utilities. This hotspot exists due to an increase in the number of major water and civil infrastructure projects underway. The shortage of technical trades candidates coupled with the active resources and mining sector, especially in Western Australia, has added to this demand.
• Current technical recruitment hotspots include civil designers and civil drafters with over one year of experience using relevant computer packages, such as AutoCAD and CivilCAD. Project managers, maintenance planners and asset managers are also in high demand as are town planners. The buoyant nature of the land development sector in Western Australia, Queensland and NSW has led to a marked increase in demand for statutory land planners to work in local and state governments.
• A shortage of civil designers/drafters exists due to the requirement for new civil infrastructure and maintenance. This, coupled with competition with the mining sector, has created high public sector demand for suitably qualified and experienced candidates.
• There is still a high demand for traffic engineers, environmental engineers and construction managers. Continued population growth and the ongoing drought have created unprecedented levels of water and transport infrastructure spending from all levels of government which is leading to this demand.

The coming quarter

Vacancy activity over the coming quarter is expected to be high, particularly in the hotspot areas. While the current trend favours permanent recruitment, the coming quarter is expected to witness an increase in contract activity to similar levels as long service leave, an increase in projects and resignations see employers utilise temporary staff.

A significant number of candidates are required to fulfil recruitment needs caused by planned programs of work. Solely local candidates will not meet this demand and so the hiring of overseas migrants is expected to continue, in conjunction with the increasing use of temporary staffing options at all levels, including for senior and critical roles.

Many employers are becoming far more proactive in their approach to securing talent. It is now expected that candidates will have between three to five job offers to select from and the need to stand out as a desirable employer has become more recognised.

Executive recruitment

An increase in vacancy activity at the executive level is driven by the high number of large infrastructure projects being delivered by Joint Venture, Alliance or PPP style methodology. The setting up and management of these project-specific entities has generated a significant number of high-level executive roles.

Salaries

Salaries are expected to remain steady or increase only slightly over the next quarter. Public sector organisations are realising that to attract and retain quality candidates they need to be competitive. The inclusion of vehicles in packages and the addition of an allowance to salaries will see packages become more competitive in the next quarter.

Candidate trends

• There has been a decline in available trade-qualified candidates, such as steel fixers and concrete labourers, which is due to competition with the mining sector.
• Technical candidates are displaying a preference towards permanent roles.
• Overseas applicants who have already secured visas are at a distinct advantage as this makes the recruitment process far easier.
• The drain of talent into the resources and mining industry shows no sign of slowing down. Some candidates are choosing temporary roles as they can achieve excellent hourly rates and enjoy a more flexible lifestyle balance.