Australiaβs Construction Skills Shortage Persists Despite Slower Hiring
Fewer employers are recruiting across Australia, yet experienced construction workers remain difficult to secure. October's workforce data, rising trade costs and resources forecasts reveal why Australia's construction labour market is becoming increasingly divided by skills, location and project demand.
Australia's construction and resources sectors have delivered an interesting set of figures during October 2026.
Recruitment activity is easing nationally. At the same time, construction employers continue to experience difficulty finding qualified workers, skilled trades are becoming more expensive, and major resources developments are moving through the investment pipeline.
At first glance, these trends appear contradictory.
If fewer employers are hiring, shouldn't workers become easier to find?
Not necessarily.
The latest research from Jobs and Skills Australia, the Housing Industry Association, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association suggests the situation is more complicated.
Employers may be recruiting less frequently, but demand for particular skills remains strong. Regional locations continue to present challenges, and the timing of major construction and mining projects is creating very different workforce requirements.
Following September's construction and infrastructure update, which examined major project announcements and workforce policy changes, October's findings provide a closer look at the employment conditions facing the industry.
Fewer employers are recruiting, but construction hiring difficulties remain high
One of the most significant workforce releases this month came from Jobs and Skills Australia on 29 October.
Its September-quarter Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey found that 47% of Australian employers were recruiting, down three percentage points compared with the previous year.
However, recruitment difficulties increased among employers actively seeking workers.
Across all industries, 45% of recruiting employers experienced difficulty filling vacancies, an increase of three percentage points over the year.
The construction industry recorded an even higher figure.
Some of the report's key findings included:
- 56% of recruiting construction employers reported difficulty finding suitable workers.
- 65% of employers recruiting technicians and trades workers experienced hiring difficulties.
- 60% of employers recruiting technicians and trades workers reported vacancies remaining unfilled for more than a month.
- 53% of recruiting employers in outer regional and remote Australia experienced difficulty, compared with 42% in major cities.
- Only 19% of employers nationally expected to increase staffing over the following three months, down four percentage points over the year.
The distinction between overall recruitment activity and the availability of suitably skilled workers is important.
A construction company may receive a reasonable number of applications for a vacancy but still struggle to find candidates with the appropriate qualifications, tickets, site experience or availability.
For example, an experienced civil supervisor, underground tunnelling specialist or heavy diesel fitter cannot necessarily be replaced by someone with general construction experience.
The same applies to engineers, licensed tradespeople and specialist plant operators.
The number of people looking for work is not always an accurate reflection of the number who can perform a particular role.
That creates a labour market where recruitment activity can slow nationally while individual employers continue to experience significant shortages.
For contractors and hiring teams, the challenge increasingly comes down to accessing appropriately qualified candidates rather than simply generating more applications.
Skilled trades remain in short supply as construction costs increase
The Housing Industry Association's October Trades Report provided further evidence that the slowdown in recruitment has not removed pressure from Australia's skilled trades market.
Released on 22 October, the report found that trade shortages persisted across Australian residential construction markets.
The HIA Trades Availability Index improved slightly from -0.59 in the June quarter to -0.50 in the September quarter.
Although this represented a modest improvement, the index continued to indicate a shortage of available workers.
More importantly for builders and contractors, trade prices increased 6.6% over the year to September 2026, the fastest annual increase in four years.
Among the trades experiencing the greatest shortages were:
- Bricklaying
- Ceramic tiling
- Carpentry
- Roofing
The regional differences were also significant.
Regional Queensland and regional South Australia recorded particularly acute shortages, while Brisbane and Perth remained under considerable pressure.
Melbourne was much closer to equilibrium than many other markets.
This highlights another important point: Australia's construction labour market cannot be assessed accurately using national figures alone.
A bricklayer working in one metropolitan market may face very different employment conditions from someone with the same trade working in regional Queensland.
Demand can vary considerably depending on housing construction, infrastructure investment, local development activity and the availability of experienced workers.
The HIA estimates that Australia requires an additional 83,000 skilled tradespeople to deliver the housing needed over the longer term.
That estimate relates to future housing workforce requirements rather than the number of vacancies currently advertised, but it demonstrates the scale of the industry's capacity challenge.
And residential builders are not the only employers competing for skilled workers.
Commercial construction, infrastructure, industrial developments and maintenance projects draw from overlapping trade workforces.
Electricians, carpenters, concreters, mechanical tradespeople and other qualified workers can often move between sectors depending on their experience and the projects available.
For people seeking opportunities, construction trades and services jobs across Australia remain an important part of the wider employment market.
ABS confirms construction price pressures are extending beyond housing
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reinforced the situation in its September-quarter Producer Price Index release, published on 30 October.
The ABS reported that building construction output prices increased 1.3% during the September quarter and 4.9% over the preceding twelve months.
Skilled labour shortages continued to place upward pressure on wages and construction costs.
Materials, fuel, freight and other supply expenses also contributed.
One particularly interesting observation from the ABS concerned demand from major infrastructure and data centre construction.
The ABS identified ongoing demand for non-residential building activity from hospitals, schools and private-sector data centres.
These projects were contributing to shortages in specific trades, particularly concrete, mechanical and electrical services.
This matters because it demonstrates how workforce pressure can move between different construction sectors.
An electrical contractor may be required on a hospital development, a commercial tower, a data centre or a major infrastructure project.
The work is different, but the qualifications and experience required can overlap.
When several major developments are competing for the same limited pool of experienced workers, labour costs and recruitment timelines can be affected.
For project managers and commercial teams, these pressures create additional uncertainty around tender pricing, subcontractor availability and construction scheduling.
The wider challenge is not simply attracting enough workers into construction.
It is ensuring the industry has sufficient numbers of appropriately qualified people across the different trades and disciplines needed to deliver projects simultaneously.
Australia's resources pipeline is growing, but the employment forecast tells a different story
Another significant October release came from the Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association (AREEA).
Its Resources and Energy Workforce Forecast 2026β2031 identified 112 major resources and energy projects, an increase of 16 compared with the previous year's forecast.
The projects represent at least $143.1 billion in published capital investment.
However, the forecast estimated that those developments would require 19,549 additional operational employees.
That represents a reduction of 12% compared with the previous year's forecast, despite the increase in project numbers.
More projects, but fewer additional operating jobs.
It is an interesting outcome, although the distinction between project construction and operational employment needs to be understood.
The forecast focuses on additional workers required to operate resources and energy projects. It does not represent the total number of people who may be employed during construction.
A new mine, processing facility or major resources development may require extensive civil works, structural construction, mechanical installation, electrical systems and commissioning before entering production.
Those activities can generate considerable construction employment without creating an equivalent number of permanent operating roles.
Once operational, the workforce required may be considerably smaller.
AREEA also identified a growing proportion of investment directed towards maintaining existing operations and extending the lives of established projects rather than creating entirely new operating workforces.
The occupations identified in the forecast included demand for:
- 7,371 plant operators
- 2,430 heavy diesel fitters
- 3,545 workers across mine engineering, technical and geology roles
The timing of these requirements is also significant.
AREEA forecast that approximately 3,198 additional operational positions would be needed by the end of 2027, with around 15,000 expected between 2028 and 2030.
For industry employers, the message is clear.
A large announced investment pipeline does not necessarily translate into immediate recruitment demand.
Project approvals, financing, construction schedules and operational readiness all influence when workers will actually be required.
For jobseekers and recruiters monitoring opportunities, understanding these project stages is increasingly valuable.
Workers can explore mining jobs across Australia, including opportunities associated with operational and project work.
Western Australia and Queensland remain central to future resources workforce demand
AREEA's forecast also highlighted the geographical concentration of future resources employment.
Western Australia remained the largest contributor, with 45 projects forecast to require 8,177 additional workers.
Queensland followed with 22 projects requiring 4,102 workers, while New South Wales had 14 projects requiring 2,372.
The Northern Territory and South Australia collectively accounted for 23 projects requiring 3,546 additional employees.
These figures reinforce the importance of regional workforce mobility.
Mining and energy developments are frequently located substantial distances from major population centres.
Employers must therefore balance the availability of local workers with recruitment from other regions, relocation arrangements and fly-in fly-out employment.
However, not every skilled tradesperson or operator is available for remote employment.
Rosters, accommodation, travel requirements, family commitments and working conditions all influence whether a candidate is prepared to accept a position.
An employer can have a nationally recognised project and competitive employment conditions while still struggling to secure suitable personnel in the required location.
For workers willing to travel, FIFO construction and mining opportunities provide another route into major resources and infrastructure employment.
North West Queensland highlights the regional workforce challenge
The challenges facing regional employers were illustrated by ABC News reporting on 27 October.
Mining companies operating around Mount Isa and Cloncurry were experiencing recruitment difficulties as activity increased across the North West Minerals Province.
Projects associated with copper mining, exploration and potential mine restarts were creating opportunities, but companies were concerned about the availability of suitably experienced workers.
AIC Mines, which operates the Eloise copper mine near Cloncurry, highlighted difficulties recruiting workers both locally and across the wider mining sector.
The planned reopening of the Capricorn Copper operation near Mount Isa also demonstrated the potential for additional employment demand in the region.
The Queensland Resources Council identified ongoing shortages in several technical occupations, including mining engineers, geologists, electricians and mechanical engineers.
It also raised the impact of competition from major infrastructure development in south-east Queensland, including work associated with Brisbane's 2032 Olympic Games.
This is a particularly important regional issue.
A mining project near Mount Isa may be competing for technical workers who could also take up employment on transport infrastructure, energy developments or major construction projects around Brisbane.
In some cases, the strongest competition for a worker may not come from another mining company at all.
It may come from a different industry offering comparable employment conditions in a more convenient location.
Regional workforce availability is therefore influenced by considerably more than mining activity alone.
It is connected to the broader construction and infrastructure market.
For experienced professionals, opportunities across civil engineering and infrastructure projects can create another source of demand for transferable skills.
The real recruitment challenge is becoming more specialised
Taken together, October's workforce releases describe an industry that is not experiencing one uniform labour market.
National recruitment activity has slowed, but shortages remain concentrated around particular occupations, regions and project requirements.
Residential builders are facing rising trade costs.
Major infrastructure developments are competing for experienced civil, mechanical and electrical workers.
Resources companies are planning for a substantial future investment pipeline while their forecasts show slower growth in permanent operational employment.
Regional mining operations are attempting to attract technical workers who have employment options across multiple industries.
These conditions create different challenges depending on the employer.
A residential builder seeking carpenters in metropolitan Melbourne faces a very different market from a civil contractor sourcing experienced supervisors for regional Queensland or a mining company recruiting heavy diesel fitters in Western Australia.
A single national recruitment statistic cannot capture those differences.
For employers, this places greater importance on understanding the specific labour market surrounding each vacancy.
That includes the experience required, the rates being offered, the project's location, the availability of accommodation and the ability to attract workers who may already be employed elsewhere.
It also reinforces the value of maintaining candidate relationships before a recruitment requirement becomes urgent.
Employers looking to improve their workforce planning can read our practical guide to finding and retaining good construction workers.
October's takeaway: slower hiring doesn't mean skilled workers are easier to find
October 2026 has provided a useful reminder that construction recruitment is rarely as straightforward as national employment figures suggest.
Jobs and Skills Australia's research shows fewer employers recruiting, while more than half of recruiting construction employers still experience difficulty finding workers.
The HIA and ABS have highlighted continuing cost pressures associated with skilled labour shortages.
AREEA's latest resources forecast shows that a growing investment pipeline can produce a more complicated employment outlook than project numbers alone might suggest.
And developments in North West Queensland demonstrate how regional employers can face significant recruitment challenges despite broader signs of easing labour demand.
The common factor is the availability of experienced workers with the right skills, in the right places, when they are required.
Australia does not have one construction labour market.
It has numerous overlapping regional, occupational and project-specific labour markets, each operating under different conditions.
For contractors, recruiters and hiring managers, the challenge is increasingly about reaching the right candidates rather than simply reaching more people.
For workers, relevant qualifications, demonstrated site experience and flexibility around location can provide a significant advantage.
And for the wider industry, expanding training pathways, retaining experienced personnel and improving workforce mobility will remain important as major construction, infrastructure and resources projects progress.
The next challenge is not simply creating more jobs. It is ensuring the people capable of doing them are available when those jobs need to be filled.
Jordan Grant
Founder, Construction Jobs Australia
Author & Editor, Construction Hiring Brief
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