Australia’s biggest construction union claims to have destroyed what it says is a myth regarding shortages in construction trades across the nation.

But employer groups have pushed back, arguing that the union’s claims are farcical.

And the union’s claims appear to be problematic in several respects (see below).

Undertaking an analysis of data from Jobs and Skills Australia, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) claims that the outcome ‘busts the myth peddled by employer groups that there is a worker shortage which must be addressed through migration’.

In its analysis, the CFMEU has estimated vacancy rates by comparing occupation data from Jobs and Skills Australia with February internet job advertisements data that is also compiled by Jobs in Skills Australia.

Based on this, the union claims that vacancy rates for plasters, bricklayers/stonemasons, plumbers, tilers, fencers, carpenters and joiners, insulation and home improvement installers all stand at less than one percent.

In February, the union says that there were just 56 ads for plasters – a profession employing 27,600 people nationally.

Turning to bricklayers and stonemasons, the CFMEU says that there are 30,000 of these employed throughout Australia.

With only 111 job ads as of February, the union says that this indicates a vacancy rate of 0.4 percent.

Using this data, CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith hit out at claims of building industry lobby groups that Australia is in the midst of a shortage of tradespeople and should allow more tradespeople to enter through skilled migration.

“We have exposed the blatant lie that Australia is suffering from a tradie shortage that must be fixed through migration,” Smith said.

“Master Builders is pushing a pathetic fiction so they can access easily exploitable migrant labour and undercut the wages and conditions construction workers deserve.

“These groups should be absolutely ashamed of pushing complete bullshit that is designed to hurt Australian workers.”

The union’s comments come as employers and industry bodies say that a severe shortage of skilled workers has emerged across Australia’s construction sector over recent years.

This has occurred as the construction industry has worked its way through a record pipeline of detached home building work (notwithstanding that work in this sector is slowing) and a record volume of public infrastructure work.

As a result of this, employer groups argue that skilled worker visas are essential to ensure that the nation has a sufficient number of suitably qualified workers to deliver upon projects.

The need for this will become more acute as Australia ramps up efforts to achieve national housing targets and to deliver upon the nation’s energy transition.

The CFMEU, however, is concerned that importing more workers will lead to fewer opportunities for existing local staff, greater potential for worker exploitation and the undermining of wages and conditions for local workers.

Shortage Claims Supported by Data

Employer claims of worker shortages appear to have support from several data sources.

In its 2023 Skills Priority List, Jobs and Skills Australia indicated that shortages existed in all of the building and construction occupation groups which were on the list (see below).

Meanwhile, construction job vacancy numbers remain well above levels seen prior to COVID despite having eased over the past twelve months – a sign that suitably qualified workers remain difficult to find.

Finally, in the residential sector, the HIA Trades Report indicates that worker shortages persist across each of the thirteen housing construction trades which are tracked in the report.

(All trades on the Skills Priority List 2023 were found to be in national shortage by Jobs and Skills Australia)

Problems with CFMEU job vacancy calculations

Meanwhile, the method adopted by the CFMEU to calculate job vacancy rates appears to be problematic.

As mentioned above, the CFMEU has calculated job vacancies for occupational categories by comparing February monthly data regarding job vacancies that is compiled by Jobs in Skills Australia with occupational data that is also provided by Jobs and Skills Australia.

For two reasons, however, this produces a vacancy rate which is artificially low.

First, the occupational vacancy data referred to above relates to the month of February and has not been adjusted for seasonal factors.

This is important as February is a seasonally low month in terms of vacancy activity.

As a result, any vacancy rates which are calculated using February monthly data as a reference point will produce an artificially low result.

Beyond that, the vacancy data contained in the Jobs and Skills Australia Vacancy Report is not a total and complete count of all job vacancies.

Rather, the report is produced though a count of positions advertised on three web sites only – Seek, CareerOne and Workforce Australia. According to Jobs and Skills Australia’s own estimates, this data captures only around 60 percent of all job vacancies.

As a result, use of this data as a basis for calculating occupational vacancy rates will result in an artificially low vacancy level.

For both of these reasons, true occupational vacancy rates are likely to be significantly higher compared with the CFMEU’s claims.

(Construction job vacancies remain well above pre-pandemic levels – indicating greater difficulty for employers in securing suitable workers).

Industry Hits Back

Not surprisingly, building industry lobby groups have savaged the union’s claims.

In a statement provided to Sourceable, Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said that the union’s claim was devoid of credibility.

“We don’t know what rock the CFMEU is living under,” Wawn said.

“Cherry-picking a data point that can be twisted to suit their narrative and ignoring how skills shortages are calculated is not proving anything.

“Jobs and Skills Australia confirmed only this week that of the 15 key occupation groups in building and construction, all of them are in shortage.

“The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows there are now more unfilled roles in our industry than there were at any time over the 11-years from late 2009 to early 2021 and up 50 per cent than what’s been typical over the past decade (refer chart).

“On the ground, builders and contractors consistently tell us workforce shortages post-pandemic are one of the biggest drivers of building delays and cost escalations.

“The full facts speak for themselves, which is why governments, independent expert bodies and employers all agree we need more tradies if we are going to build the homes Australians so desperately need.”

Housing Industry Association Senior Economist Matt King agrees.

In a written response to questions from Sourceable, King noted the shortages of trades as mentioned in the aforementioned HIA Trades Report along with ABS job vacancy data as of February showing that job vacancies in construction remained higher compared with pre-pandemic levels to the tune of 67.8 percent.

Trade prices (up six percent during calendar 2023) are rising three times faster compared with their annual average before the pandemic, King noted further.

“These circumstances sit as a backdrop to the Federal Government’s housing supply commitment and an immediate boost to worker numbers across all facets of the industry is critical to meeting the 1.2 million home target,” King said.

“It demands that the Federal Government play a key role in to building and growing our domestic workforce and bringing new workers and apprentices into the industry alongside supporting a targeted construction skilled worker program and visa system for in-demand trades.”

Union Hits Out at BuildSkills Australia

As well as criticising employer groups, Smith also hit out at BuildSkills Australia – a national Jobs and Skills Council that was established by the Commonwealth Government to work with industry to find solutions to the workforce challenges facing the construction, property and water industries.

Smith said the union was particularly concerned that BuildSkills had called in a recent submission for more trades to be added to the Core Skills Occupation List, which is used as part of the basis for the granting of Skills in Demand vias.

“The most appalling part is this myth (about workforce shortages) isn’t just being peddled by exploitation-hungry employer associations, it’s also coming from within BuildSkills Australia, which is supposed to be an impartial source of information for the federal government,” Smith said.

In a letter to the organisation, Smith also raised concerns about media commentary from BuildSkills’ Rob Sobyra, which Smith says has backed the position of employer groups.

“Allowing an employee to express their own personal opinion as being reflective of the position of the organisation is totally unacceptable,” he wrote.

“If BuildSkills is to have the continued support of the CFMEU then we require you to take urgent action to rectify this unacceptable situation and to inform the foundation members of the action that you are taking.”

BuildSkills had not responded to Sourceable’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Enjoying Sourceable articles? Subscribe for Free and receive daily updates of all articles which are published on our site

Want to grow your sales, reach more new clients and expand your client base across Australia’s design and construction sector?

Advertise on Sourceable and have your business seen by the thousands of architects, engineers, builders/construction contractors, subcontractors/trade contractors, property developers and building industry suppliers who read our stories across the civil, commercial and residential construction sector