The hot topic of the May Newsletter is the 2014 Australia budget.  At CGC HQ we are still digesting the implications of Joe Hockey’s first budget, however, we will endeavour to summarise how this impacts the construction and property market below.

Construction, particularly infrastructure related projects, appear to be one of the major winners. The federal government has unveiled an $11.6m transport infrastructure package that they hope will encourage private sector spending in excess of $100 billion in total by 2019-20.

Projects that will benefit from acceleration will be stage two of the East West Link in Melbourne and the Perth Freight Link. Other projects that will be fast tracked will be the North South Road in Adelaide, major upgrades for highway in the Northern Territory and the Toowoomba second range crossing in Queensland. The projects from the previous government such as the Bruce Highway expansion and the Pacific Highway duplication will also continue to move ahead.

Western Sydney appears to have hit the budget jackpot! Billions of dollars are being promised to the region and this investment will include the completion of the full WestConnex Motorway and the construction of the Badgery’s Creek Airport. The construction of roads for the airport linking with a number of major motorways will begin in 2014 with the construction of the airport due to commence in 2016.

Regional areas will also benefit from an increase in investment in healthcare and educational facilities. These will be upgrades, new builds and major extensions and will increase the demand for construction professionals with project specific experience.

What does all this expenditure mean for our clients and candidates?

A number of specialist markets are currently experiencing a serious skills shortage and the increased level of expenditure outlined in the budget will only increase demand for these skill sets.

Our civils and structural design team are still experiencing a huge demand for the following disciplines: REVIT Modellers (contract and permanent), experienced Structural Engineers & urban development project. This will only increase as the infrastructure spend kicks into gear!

This will then flow through to project related recruitment across the infrastructure space. Our civils construction team are constantly looking for Estimators with RMS experience and also Senior Estimators with Australian experience in the utilities sector.  In relation to site based roles we are looking to connect with candidates who are willing to work in regional locations. A number of our clients are able to offer large scale project experience and fast track career progression should candidates be able to relocate to regional locations throughout the east coast.

If you are a civil and structural professional in either design or delivery then please get in touch ASAP.

This month’s market in focus is MEP Contractors with expert commentary coming from our Principal Consultant, James Loomes.

The Australian MEP market at present is currently experiencing a ‘two level economy’ with all states barring the NSW market relying heavily on major projects that are currently being undertaken. For those building services contractors that are not on these large projects there is a high emphasis on tenders and developing key relationships with both new and existing customers.

Through this the market is currently seeing a need for experienced estimators and business development professionals that increase tender request and in turn successful tendering. Estimators that can successfully win design and construct works who can demonstrate a high level of engineering ability along with established relationships with tier 1 and tier 2 builders are currently in demand.

Moving in to the NSW market the construction sector as a whole is seeing both major and medium sized projects up and running with more notable projects including the likes of Barangaroo and Sydney Convention Centre. This confidence in the market is replicated with the MEP contractors with several areas of focus to bring on new talent. More notable is that of experienced REVIT MEP drafts people and modellers. With REVIT software now well and truly at the forefront of major projects this skill shortage is continually increasing along with employer demand.

If you are a MEP professional and would like a confidential ‘career check-up’ please contact James Loomes on [email protected]

Away from the budget and skill shortage, after a number of births and marriages we have had a quiet time at CGC HQ in May. Next month we will be able to report back on our forthcoming  event for the Cancer Council, potential office expansion and the team’s training regime for both the City to Surf in August and tough mudder in October.

See you in a month!