Photo: 123rf
- Engineering New Zealand's chief executive says hundreds of engineers are losing their jobs and leaving the country as work dries up due to stalling infrastructure projects.
- The engineering association is "urgently" calling for the government to release infrastructure funds.
- Infrastructure NZ calls for "greater certainty" that overrides successive governments.
Hundreds of engineers are losing their jobs and leaving the country because of delays to infrastructure projects, causing "significant" risk to the country's development and growth, says the head of New Zealand's engineering body.
Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau chief executive Dr Richard Templer said the pipeline of infrastructure work had "all but dried up" and that was having a "devastating impact" on the profession.
Dr Richard Templer, chief executive of Engineering NZ. Photo: Phil Pennington
"Te Ao Rangahau Engineering New Zealand is very concerned that the continued lack of spending on infrastructure projects is having a big impact on the number of engineers and construction workers employed in New Zealand.
"The shutdown of education rebuilds, the shutdown of hospital builds and upgrades the slow down on roading, the changes in the Three Waters space has meant that New Zealand engineers and New Zealand constructors, the people who build the roads, waters network and buildings, have all had to look for work elsewhere and that has seen people heading overseas or contracting to work overseas and significant numbers."
"Hundreds" of engineers were also losing their jobs, Templer added.
"We don't have any detailed statistics because obviously some of the firms involved are not going to put them into the public arena, but we do know that hundreds of engineers has lost their jobs as a result of these changes."
It was a broad range of engineers who were affected, he said.
"If you think about a building project that has stopped, say like Dunedin Hospital, you have structural engineers who are building the design and the structure, geotechnical engineers who are involved in all the foundation work, fire engineers who do all the systems, building service engineers, typically mechanical engineers and electrical engineers who are doing everything inside, [from] lighting to specialised electronics.
"Then you have all the tradespeople underneath: the builders, the concrete layers, the tilers, the painters, the electricians involved in the wiring. All those trades and all those engineers are suddenly left without work to do."
Templer said he knew of "some large infrastructure firms" in Australia who were "rapidly hiring large numbers of New Zealand engineers".
Meanwhile, other engineers will be lured to California to help with the rebuild after last month's devastating wildfires.
"New Zealand engineers are valued very highly in California because California gets earthquakes, just like New Zealand."
To avoid a "brain drain", he urged the government to free up funds for delivery and firm up the infrastructure pipeline.
"New Zealand cannot afford to wait - we need to get major project design and procurement underway as soon as possible. The funds for infrastructure projects need to be prioritised and released."
He also said the government must include infrastructure delivery targets in its quarterly action plans.
"New Zealand also needs a clear, committed infrastructure pipeline that outlives each political term. Engineers need to know what is happening, and when."
While Templer acknowledged the new fast-track approvals process may help in the long term, specialist skills were being lost in the meantime.
"We will keep losing our engineers and will pay the price. An engineering skills crisis is evident - the time to act is now."
Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett said the sector has been "unquestionably" affected by "[the] rescoping of work, readjustments and driving for better value for money by the government."
"This has caused obviously some significant pressure across the sector."
But he said with nearly $150 billion worth of projects in the pipeline, the government was working to address "delays and blockages" in the system.
Leggett said he backed the idea of transparent infrastructure delivery targets.
"We would absolutely support a greater visibility around those things, but I think we should also recognise this is a government that's focused on delivering infrastructure.
"I think there's a recognition across the political divide that that's important and that's why we've seen strong support from Labour on the system changes that the government has made.
"What we want to do is keep pushing because every time the government changes, it seems in current political times we see this windscreen wiper that just wipes everything off the windscreen. What we've got to have is greater certainty."
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said in a statement the number of projects had increased since the government came to office.
"The Infrastructure Commission's pipeline shows that there is around $143 billion of infrastructure projects underway or in planning.
"Just this week the government has confirmed funding for the State Highway 76 Brougham St transport project in Christchurch and the Waikare Gorge realignment project in Hawke's Bay, both very important regional projects which will get underway soon.
"The government's National Land Transport Plan contains record investment now and into the future into our roading network, including a pipeline of Roads of National Significance.
Infrastructure was "a major priority" for the government, he added.
"In the last year we have established the National Infrastructure Funding and Financing Agency, started the process of developing a 30-year National Infrastructure Plan to help build consensus on our major priorities; refreshed the Public-Private Partnership framework, published an infrastructure funding and financing framework, and made it clear the government is open to market-led proposals.
"Next month we will hold a major international investment summit with over 100 top global investors coming to New Zealand."
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