The residential rebuild in Christchurch could require up to 12,500 full time workers, following the two earthquakes that hit the city on September 4 and February 22, Prime Minister John Key says.
Key was answering a question from Labour MP Jacinda Ardern in Question Time in Parliament on Wednesday afternoon.
“The picture is still developing but so far it looks like the residential rebuild alone will require up to 12,500 full-time workers,” Key said.
There could be a number of skills shortages for such a rebuild, he said.
“We have had an indication that there’s likely to be a shortage in occupations such as concreters, carpenters and joiners. What I can say is it’s far too early to know whether that statement’s right,” Key said.
“The government is working on a number of initiatives in terms of training new people. We also know there are a lot of full time workers in the Canterbury region who could actually work more hours – they’ve been working on reduced hours [at the moment],” Key said.
There were also other workers available from around New Zealand.
Time until rebuild starts uncertain
Earthquake recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has said the timing for when the rebuild will begin was uncertain as the ground in Christchurch was still moving.
Over the weekend Brownlee said it was likely over 11,000 homes would have damages exceeding the EQC payment cap of NZ$100,000, and that it be "uneconomic" to repair about 6,500 of these.
“And that number will creep up as there is a better analysis of those properties,” Brownlee said on TV3's The Nation over the weekend.
Government estimates on how many homes are likely to be demolished have varied, with early suggestions that 10,000 could be in line for demolition.
Skills for rebuilds
The Labour Party has been calling on the government to make sure there was an adequate New Zealand skills base to deal with the Christchurch rebuild, warning of the possible need to import labour from Asian countries due to trades skills shortages in New Zealand.
Leader Phil Goff said last month he expected a trades skill shortage in 12 to 18 months as the industry struggled to cope with demand from Christchurch, an Auckland housing shortage and repairs to leaky homes. This would come due to increasing migration of Kiwis leaving to work in Australia in wake of the Queensland floods, and due to low numbers of trade apprentiships in New Zealand, Goff said.
(Updates with video of exchange in Parliament, background)
14 Comments
That's right...but it makes for good PR...!
Notice he avoided mentioning how prices for every friggin building material to be used will shoot higher!
Expect a modest amount of rebuilding in 2012 along with some serious price rises and a severe downturn in the building sector in every other region bar Auckland city.
Look to see skilled labour give Chch the bums rush in favour of Queensland work.
Too early to talk about new jobs. They don't even know how many have been lost yet, or how or where they will rebuild, and let's not forget they haven't even asked if the owners' want to rebuild.
Sort out EQC, scrap Fletchers and get rid of the cordons from safe areas (which is most of the CBD) before you even think about predicting how many jobs might be created.
As far as I'm concerned it's little different today then it was on Tuesday afternoon six weeks ago.
Concrete, carpenters and joiners. So we're not thinking far outside the square then. Just as far as the cordon, perhaps?
Scarfie - you're right. Many retired rather than go through the hoops. After all, most of them coud have taught the examiners, after 30 plus years in the game.
Brownlee is right about one thing though - you can't start till it stops moving, not if you're thinking in traditional terms.
Seems to me that a houseboat, with flexible service couplings, would do alright.......
but hey, what would I know.....
Lets be careful out there.
Sadly what seems to be missing is any appreciation of how long and complex it is to really train/ educate skilled people. They are learning what it means to be a " what ever " not just a set of tickbox competences. That's why when times are tough, these people take their skills and their professional attitudes and go somewhere else. And why we ended up last time we ignored the real importance of skills with the leaky building situation. Small firms employing labourers to do what were highly skilled tradesmen jobs, but on the cheap.
I'm a young plumber with 8 years experience who is one of the many tradies who has left home in search of greener pasture. I looked in Australia. Much browner than Dunedin but much better pay and benefits in all three states I looked at moving to. Oddly enough I was in Mt Isa, Queensland and got a job offer on a superyacht so I'm not using my trade skills at all and am still getting more out of my job than I would, being on the tools at home. It's about time peoples attitudes towards tradies changed. We are, dare I say it, an educated bunch of blokes and bloke-ettes who put in 4 years of training (much like most uni students) to become what we become. Once the apprenticeship drudgery is done with and you realise that Australians will pay you at least $10 more an hour....why wouldn't you take it? It's a no brainer. So is it any wonder that Chch will be put back together by cowboys who want to take whatever they can get out of the resilient cantabs who will try to start fresh? No. It's time NZer's wake up and see the value in skilled people who (please excuse my plumbing vernacular....) "know their sh!t". I will probably come home in the next year or so and by then I think the above ground constuction will be underway. I hope so, I was devastated to watch my country on CNN under such disastrous circumstances. I want to be a contributor in life. Washing a rich mans yacht is helping no one in the world. Solving peoples plumbing problems and being part of building someones new home is rewarding. Unfortunately, life costs money and when you have a skill that you value, you want to be paid what you are worth to society. Australia seems to have worked that out. I might be a bit off topic with this rant but if my man John Key wants us home to fix things up, let's try and make it an attractive proposition, not just a desperate plea. I'll wait and see.
Your post very well describes the dilemna facing many young (& not so young) Kiwi's. We have, unfortunately, developed a low wage economy. Thats largely as a result of our continuing reliance on agriculture to be the way forward; & agriculture demands a low wage economy.
Will that change? I doubt it. So the building industry - of which we are both a part - will continue to lose skilled trades. Three of my chippies are over 60! as is my stopper & painter.
All the best!
Thanks petrus, you bring another great point to the table. The average age of tradesmen in NZ is getting higher. I think the average age of plumbers is around the 50 year mark. What will happen to all these small to medium sized businesses that these men and women have built up over their lifetimes? I can see great opportunities for the new generation to come through and take over an established client base but again, why bother with the headache of chasing accounts, paying all your insurances and taxes when you can still earn more and have less to worry about elsewhere.
I think there is an element of "hardness", for want of a better term, lacking in my generation. Still, that's the way things are these days and if anyone can earn a better buck for thinking less and having less responsibilities, why wouldn't they?
(I think a few smart ones could capitalise in the next 10 to 15 years if they are prepared to hang in there at home for when the business retirement sales kick off but don't let the secret out....)
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