Tasmania’s building industry is urging young people to consider a career in the trades, as a new report warns of a national shortage of about 83,000 skilled residential construction workers.
The Housing Industry Association marked National Tradies Day on a Glenorchy building site with builders, apprentices and trade contractors from Ronald Young & Co Builders and CK Contracting.
HIA Tasmania executive director Benjamin Price used the day to launch the group’s new national trade workforce report, which has also been handed to Skills and Jobs Minister Felix Ellis.
Price said the industry needed more young people entering the trades, with artificial intelligence unlikely to replace many of the hands-on jobs.
“There’s a lot of anxiety in the air about artificial intelligence and what this will mean for the workforce,” he said.
“It’s a fair question to be asking and it’s one where the trades come out looking very good.”
“AI is brilliant at things that happen on a screen, but not that good at getting into a roof cavity, working out why a wall isn’t plumb or making a call when the site doesn’t match the plans.”
Price said families were increasingly asking which jobs would still exist in 20 years.
He said a trade could also offer an income while a person was still training.
A carpentry apprentice earns around $39,000 to $42,000 a year while training, he said, while a university student pays for their study.
“It’s a good deal and we’re not selling it well enough,” Price said.
He said trades provided a pathway into small business ownership.
“Every home in this state was built by someone. Tasmanians live in homes tradies built, work in buildings tradies put up and get their communities back on their feet after a storm because tradies turn up,” Price said.
“Today is the day we say thanks and mean it. These are skilled professionals doing work you can stand in front of years later and say, I built that. Not many careers give you that.”
The report found the residential building industry nationally was short about 83,000 skilled workers.
“We need more Tasmanians choosing this career and we need the small builders who train them backed in to keep doing it,” Price said.
