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The changing voice of the building industry
"The changing voice of the building industry" is a research paper delivered by Geordan Murray, Executive Director - Future Workforce and Industry Research. Here's several of the key takeaways from his research, completed in 2024.
Between the 2011 and 2021 census the construction industry workforce grew by 29 per cent. Within this, the number of workers who reported English as the primary language spoken at home increased by 25 per cent, while the number reporting that they speak a language other than English increased by 56 per cent.
The construction industry accounts for 9 per cent of Australia’s total workforce, yet only 6.4 per cent of those who migrated to Australia over the last decade are working in the sector.Geordan Murray
The workforce who speaks a language other than English at home grew at a rate that is more than double the rate of the English speaking cohort.
The 56 per cent increase means that the share of workforce that speaks a language other than English at home increased from 13.6 per cent of the total industry workforce to 16.4 per cent between the 2011 and 2021 census. There are over 200 languages and dialects spoken by those in the construction workforce.
Migrant employment by industry
The construction industry still rates very poorly when compared to other sectors when recruiting migrant workers. Only 24.2 per cent of the construction industry migrated to Australia at some point, this ranks 16th out of Australia’s 19 major industry sectors. In fact, the construction industry accounts for 9 per cent of Australia’s total workforce, yet only 6.4 per cent of those who migrated to Australia over the last decade are working in this industry.
“The failure to facilitate skilled migration in the construction industry is enabling the labour shortages to continue, which is contributing to longer build times and higher construction costs. Higher construction costs are contributing to fewer homes being built and deteriorating housing affordability,” said Geordan Murray, HIA Executive Director – Future Workforce & Industry Research.
To provide a point of contrast, the accommodation and food service sector account for just 6.6 per cent of Australia’s workforce yet this sector employs 11.4 per cent of migrant workers who arrived in the last decade. This sector attracted nearly 80 per cent more migrant workers than the construction industry over the last decade.