Engineering Professions High in Demand in Australia

Demand for Engineering Skills on the Rise in Australia

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We’ve reported before about the engineering skills shortage in Australia but a new paper from Engineers Australia shows demand for engineers continues unabated. The Changes in the Australian Engineering Labour Market report release last week.

“Australia’s engineering labour force (those employed directly in engineering work) increased by almost 60,000 engineers” said Stephen Durkin, Chief Executive Officer of Engineers Australia.

“The resources boom has clearly gained momentum between the last two censuses with the emergence of major energy, oil and gas projects. Western Australia and the Northern Territory led the charge, with demand for engineers expanding by a staggering 53.5 percent and 37.5 percent, respectively.

Engineering skills shortage widespread

While it’s easy to focus on engineering in the resources industry, far more engineers are employed in other sectors. In fact, mining ranks sixth on the list with about 13,500 engineers employed on mining projects. Top industries requiring engineering skills include:

·                          Professional services - 60,654 engineers

·                          Manufacturing - 41,114 engineers

·                          Construction sector - 20,901 engineers

Skilled migration solution for engineering shortage

hile Australian is graduating about 9,500 engineers every year, that’s still not enough to meet demand. Skilled migration makes a positive contribution to filling the engineering skills gap. Engineers from overseas made up 48% of the workforce in recent years.

“This latest paper confirms that engineers remain critical players in Australia’s ambitious nation building agenda. Engineers and engineering continue to make a huge contribution to our national economy, and these latest data draw attention to the scale of this ongoing contribution,” Mr Durkin said.