Housing Industry Association (HIA) executive director Geordan Murray says that the building sector has not been able to attract a “proportionate share of the migrant workers who come to Australia”.
He says that if the sector had been able to recruit migrant workers proportionate to its 9% share of the workforce, it would have an extra 33,000 workers, with Murray contending the “skilled migration system” has failed the sector.
Murray says a lack of migrant construction workers is leading to ongoing labour shortages within the sector, which in turn leads to longer building times and higher construction costs.
