For the past several years, MB has warned that the completion of the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout on 30 June 2020 would cause significant job losses across the Australian economy.
We’ve gotten our first taste, with NBN Co announcing that it would axe 800 jobs by the end of the year:
CEO Stephen Rue said that the company would slim down the size of its direct workforce from around 6300 employees to “around 5500 people by the end of this calendar year.”
“As we have approached the final stages of the initial build, we have talked about changing the size and shape of the organisation and we are now preparing for the next phase of the company’s evolution,” Rue said.
These job losses are only symbolic in the broader scheme of things. The far bigger losses will come on the construction side.
As shown below, the construction of the NBN over the past decade provided a key support to the Australian economy as the private sector teetered on recession:
At the peak of its roll-out, the NBN contributed around 0.5% of Australia’s final demand growth and roughly half of the nation’s major projects pipeline.
The completion of the NBN’s roll-out could not come at a worse time for the Australian economy, which is already reeling from mass job losses from COVID-19 shut downs.
In particular, dwelling construction – especially high-rise – has fallen off a cliff:
1.2 million Aussies were employed in the construction industry over the May quarter, accounting for an all-time high 9.6% of jobs:
Thus, Australia’s construction sector must brace for heavy job losses as NBN workers retrench and apartment projects collapse.
