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Australia is in the midst of a once-in-a-generation infrastructure boom. But ambitious pipelines of roads, rail, energy and utilities projects are bumping against a hard reality: a deep and growing infrastructure skills gap. In fact, recent forecasts suggest that we will need 197,000 additional infrastructure workers to meet demand in 2025. ‎ ‎ The scale of the shortfall: what’s driving the 197,000-worker gap? According to the 2024 Infrastructure Market Capacity Report, the skills and labour shortage in Australia’s infrastructure sector remains one of the top capacity constraints.   A related industry commentary quantifies that shortfall as 197,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions across key infrastructure roles, ranging from tradespeople and labourers through to engineers and project managers.   That 197,000 figure is not arbitrary. It is derived from overlaying projected demand (driven by government and private infrastructure investment) against expected workforce supply (through training, migration, retention, and internal upskilling).   Breaking it down:  Trades & Labourers: Around 57,000 roles are expected to be in shortage (about 29 % of the total shortfall).  Engineers, Scientists & Architects: The single largest area of shortage (~111,000 roles, or ~56 % of the total)   Project Management Professionals: ~29,000 roles (15 %)   This isn’t just a future risk, these pressures are already being felt. Infrastructure Australia’s workforce supply dashboards show widespread shortages across dozens of relevant occupational categories.   Contributing factors:  An ageing workforce, with many skilled workers approaching retirement.   Constraints in migration: while migration helps, it cannot fully plug gaps in skills, especially for senior or regionally located roles.   Bottlenecks in education and training, and leakage from vocational pathways.   Geographic mismatches: many infrastructure projects are regionally based, making attraction and retention of skilled workers harder outside metro areas.   Competition with adjacent sectors (mining, energy, resources) for the same talent pools.   ‎ ‎  Why hiring managers should make this a…

Connect People are proud to announce an exciting new partnership with Soldier On as a Bronze Pledge Partner. Founded in 2012, Soldier On has grown into Australia’s only national, fully integrated support services provider for members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and their families. Through the delivery of holistic services, Soldier On provides support to those who have served and continue to serve in the ADF. Soldier On supports more than 5,000 veterans and their family members through our Health and Wellbeing services, Employment Support, Learning and Education Programs, as well as Participation and Social Connection activities. Managing Director, Tony Cotruzzola, said “Connect People are very proud to partner with Soldier On.  We look forward to supporting their efforts to successfully transition current and former members of the ADF – and their families – from military to civilian life.” If you would like to learn more, visit www.soldieron.org.au

Connect People are proud to announce the engagement of Dean Rioli as our Indigenous Ambassador. Dean is committed to improving Indigenous health and wellbeing, working to reduce economic disadvantage and exclusion by linking Aboriginal people to jobs and the creation of businesses capabilities. Connect People and Dean will be working together to support our Clients in developing cultural competency & culturally safe workplace environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. This includes building social procurement relationships with Aboriginal businesses, community and entrepreneurs. The achievement of employment outcomes, undertaking specialist advisory roles to develop Indigenous employment strategies, the creation and support of business mentoring and building a sound network have been the key elements to Dean’s work. He brings a wealth of knowledge and over 15 years’ experience working with major projects, engaging with Indigenous communities and supporting protocols, engagement, training and employment.   Dean’s experience includes: Indigenous Affairs Unconscious bias Diversity and inclusion strategies HR support Professional mentoring Networking opportunities/introductions to community and local resources. Dean is also a committed family and community man who is: A former Board member for JobsBank. A Deputy Chair for Bridge the Gap Foundation which helps improve the health of Indigenous people across Australia. Website: btgfoundation.com.au Board Member for Melbourne Indigenous Transition School Chariman of Rioli Fund for Aboriginal Health President of the Tiwi Bombers Football Club