Sufficiency of Human Resources and Construction Contractors for Post-disaster Reconstruction Projects in New Zealand

Abstract

This paper studied the sufficiency of human resources and construction enterprises for postdisaster reconstruction projects in New Zealand. The research has three objectives. The first one is revealing the sufficiency of manpower and contractors for reconstruction projects. The second one is exploring the existing methods for providing workers and contractors in reconstruction cases. The third objective is developing a solution to improve the status of human resources and availability of contractors in reconstruction times. A desk research was conducted, and four experts from the construction industry were interviewed. The outcomes of the desk study and the interviews revealed that manpower and contractors may be insufficient in major reconstruction cases due to three reasons which are inability of the construction industry to keep a reserve of manpower and contractors for sudden sharp demand, the slow and cautious response of the national recruitment and construction industry to sharp escalations of the construction market, and unsuccessful management of the available human resources and construction firms. In front of this situation, there are two methods to deal with sudden reconstruction needs for workforce and contractors. The first one is developing and utilizing the national human resources and construction industry. The second approach is employing migrant workers and overseas contractors. The current implementation of these two solution approaches makes them insufficient in reconstruction cases. Also, the overseas employment can impact the development of the national career market, cause breaches of work ethics, and create community concerns. In addition, the entry of overseas construction firms into NZ makes worries in the local construction market. The problems in human resourcing and availability of contractors are referred to a defect in translating reconstruction fundamentals to adequate practises. To fix this defect, the study developed a solution framework that stands on three principles. The first one is giving the priority to develop and use the national workforce and construction sector. The second one is utilizing the overseas workforce and contractors only when it is necessary. The last fundamental is employing the overseas recruitment and contractors to develop the national career market and the national construction industry.