Offsite manufacturing workforce
Full analysis of the current supply of and
demand for the prefabrication workforce
Characterising the prefabrication workforce
Scarlatti
The ability to manufacture key elements of construction projects offsite is increasingly becoming an important part of New Zealand’s construction and infrastructure ecosystem and is key to the future effectiveness of the industry.
The proportion of total construction builds sourcing one or more prefabricated elements from offsite manufacturers has increased from 3% to 9% between 2014 and 2021. This share of the construction market is expected to accelerate in the coming years partially driven by the Government’s commitment to “Drive the uptake of offsite manufacturing by Government agencies by a minimum of 10% year on year, to improve productivity and competition [for key building supplies].
As the Government and industry organisations increase their utilisation of offsite manufacturing, it becomes important to understand the offsite manufacturing workforce in more detail.
This project was set out to:
- Define and characterise the relevant offsite manufacturing occupations,
- Estimate the current supply of the offsite manufacturing workforce,
- Forecast the future demand for the offsite manufacturing workforce,
- Evaluate how the future demand for the offsite manufacturing workforce could be influenced by future trends (e.g. industry growth and the adoption of construction-based technology),
- Assess whether any gaps in the current workforce capacity or capability could cause problems for the industry in the future.
This report presents the outputs, findings and recommendations resulting from this work.