Here,Trenchless Australasia looks at figures from the report for the construction and the electricity, gas, water and waste water services industries.
Construction
Construction is the third largest employing industry in Australia, with more than one million workers, counting for 9 per cent of national employment.
Over the Âve years to November 2011, employment increased by 10.7 per cent (or 100,700).
This growth was mainly driven by construction services (up by 47,500) and building construction (21 700).
Construction employment is expected to rise by 131,200 (or 12.6 per cent) over the next Âve years, with most new jobs expected to continue to be created in construction services.
The vast majority of workers are males who are employed full-time. Females have a low share of construction industry employment (just 11 per cent compared with 46 per cent across all industries) and 14 per cent of workers are employed part-time.
A relatively low proportion of the workforce holds higher education qualiÂcations. Consistent with the largest occupations in this industry being trades 46 per cent of workers hold vocational education and training qualiÂcations at the CertiÂcate III or higher level, well above the average of 29 per cent across all industries.
Around 407,000 workers in regional Australia are employed in Construction, 39 per cent of the industry’s employment.
Some regions have a relatively high proportion of their workforce employed in this industry. For example, the Gold Coast has more than 14 per cent of its workers in this industry
Electricity, gas, water and waste water services
In Australia, the electricity, gas, water and waste services industry is the smallest employing industry with 154,400 workers counting for 1 per cent of national employment.
The industry experienced strong employment growth over the Âve years to November 2011, up by 45.7 per cent.
Most new jobs are in electricity supply and waste collection, treatment and disposal services.
Over the next Âve years, employment in electricity, gas, water and waste services is expected to increase by 17 900 (or 11.6 per cent).
This industry is male dominated (three in four workers are male) and the majority of employment is full-time (91 per cent). The industry also has a slightly higher proportion of older workers compared with all industries (43 per cent are aged 45 years or older compared with 38 per cent).
The industry is relatively highly skilled. About 31 per cent of workers do not hold post-school qualiÂcations compared with 37 per cent across all industries. Almost two in Âve workers hold a CertiÂcate III or higher vocational education and training qualiÂcation.
This industry provides good job opportunities in regional areas. Around 44 per cent of workers in the industry (more than 67,000) are employed in regional Australia, higher than the average for all industries (37 per cent).