Australia is a beautiful country filled with stunning wildlife and beautifully constructed cities. And it maintains this beauty due to the hard work of its loving citizens. But recently there has been a sharp decrease in the number of contractors available in Australia. Both for industrial services and more personalized services, such as home renovation. But why is this? Today we are going to break down the causes that have led to there being a call for more contractors in Australia.
The Global Pandemic
If you’re anything like me then you’re sick of hearing about the pandemic. It dominated our lives for too long. But the effects of the pandemic cannot be understated. And one industry that was hit hard was the contracting and industrial sector. People weren’t able to go to work in Australia during the lockdown. As a nation, it had some of the toughest restrictions anywhere in the world. But the furlough schemes in place didn’t help everyone survive. So a lot of people had to look for alternative ways to make money. This meant a lot of people previously working as contractors quit and changed career paths.
This mass exodus from the field created a staff supply issue which is still being felt now. The Iron Mining civil contractors Perth division spoke to us about this issue. According to them, they lost about 20% of their worksite workforce during the pandemic. This has hampered productivity greatly. Especially considering the company was already behind schedule due to the pandemic.
Increased Industrial Work
Because of the pandemic, every major construction project was put on hold. This included regular maintenance projects such as road fixtures. And, as the pandemic went on, more new projects started to pile up while the older ones were still unfinished. This means there is double the amount of contracting work available post-pandemic as there was pre-pandemic.
This is another key reason why the Australian government and industrial sectors are desperately seeking new contractors. So much so that a lot of companies are offering incredibly competitive salaries, joining bonuses, and incredible training schemes to anyone willing to work. To that end, it is a great time to become a contractor if you are considering a career change.
Will this Slump End?
Most experts predict this staff shortage won’t last forever. In fact, it will most likely be over in a couple of years. People are still acclimating to the post-pandemic world. Figuring things out again. So it will take a little while for people to feel comfortable returning to more manual labor. But with the incentives currently around joining this field, people will still start to flock to it.
Australians are industrious and proud people too. If there is something in their nation that needs doing, the people always eventually rise up and tackle the problem head-on. And this will be no different. In a few years’ time, I predict there will actually be too many contractors again. But this is quite a good problem to have given the alternative.