Abstract:
The aim of the research was to formulate the types of skills or changes in the direction of
skills, the New Zealand building industry would require, in 4 different timeframes, over
the next 20 years. In order to facilitate the achievement of the research goal two major
sub-objectives were defined. The first sub-objective was: To provide a breakdown of the
workforce skills within the major sector groups making up the New Zealand building
industry. A standardised framework namely the New Zealand Standard Classification of
Occupations was used to understand and document the skills in terms of tasks performed.
This helped to understand the diverse range of skill sets and varying skill levels used in
the construction of buildings in New Zealand. The New Zealand Standard Classification
of Occupations 1999 provides a detailed listing of the types of occupations present in
New Zealand with Census data of the occupations. From it first a list was compiled and
then broken down into sectors of industry categorized by skill levels of various
occupations. The second objective was: To propose a well-reasoned map of the skills the
New Zealand industry will need for the future. The environments in which the issue of
future skills was investigated were skill shortages and occupational licensing. The
research used a literature search across the disciplines of economics, construction
management and public policy. Interviews were conducted with industry leaders,
practitioners, government departments, unions, Industry Training Organisations,
academia and industry associations to gauge their views on skills shortages, the licensing
of occupations and future skills. The conclusions were reached using Nvivo analysis of
data together with comparisons with national and international literature. Increasing
specialization in skills was found to be the most common trend over the next 20 years.
