Chch construction industry turns to temporary assignments

Christchurch construction industry turns to temporary assignments: Hays Quarterly Report

A significant number of construction companies are using temporary assignments to provide immediate short-term staffing solutions in Christchurch, according to the latest Hays Quarterly Report.

While Christchurch businesses would prefer employees to be living in the region permanently, there is an increasing openness by employers to look at new ways of resourcing staff, the Report found.

“For instance, a significant number of companies are using temporary assignments to provide immediate short-term solutions to help meet deadlines and maximise commercial opportunities for new and existing projects,” says Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand.

According to the Report, the release of the Christchurch blueprint has provided the industry with another positive step towards the overall rebuild and has added more direction for contractors in the commercial and residential building sector.

“Whilst the market still clearly has challenges, the volume of work being released and completed is rising quarter-by-quarter, with the third and fourth quarters of 2013 expected to be very busy for main contractors, sub contractors and suppliers,” says Jason.

Christchurch continues to need candidates for insurance-related work, with Quantity Surveyors, Construction Site Managers and Foremen/women in highest demand. Candidates need significant experience in residential, light commercial and refurbishment projects. Skilled and qualified Carpenters are also in high demand.

“Candidates are actively moving to Christchurch from the North Island, regional parts of the South Island, the UK and Europe,” says Jason. “And the Christchurch market is starting to experience some significant activity in certain market sectors due to heightened candidate awareness and the increased availability of jobs in the region.

“Given the demand for certain skilled professionals, more companies need to focus on their attraction strategies, such as by promoting their value-adds. This includes training and development, professionals associations, clear career development strategies and the opportunity to work on exciting projects.

“Over the coming months we expect to see the skills shortage deepen and more companies, including SMEs, will be looking overseas to attract top talent. Additionally as salaries increase, the ability to attract new people to Christchurch will be a key factor in reducing the inflationary pressure on the labour market.”

Meanwhile, in Auckland there is demand for UFB Supervisors due to the UFB rollout across the country and in the lead up to Christmas demand is also being seen for Shop Fitout Foremen/women.

Quantity Surveyors are also in demand to maximise revenue on existing projects and Estimators are needed to price and tender for work.

Candidates in the construction industry in general need to remain flexible on their choice of work location and move to where the work is.

Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

About Hays
Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. We are the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in Asia Pacific and the UK and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. We operate across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.

Hays employs 7,800 staff operating from 245 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2012, Hays reported net fees of £734 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £128 million. Hays placed around 55,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 182,000 people into temporary assignments. 33% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific.

Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.

ENDS

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