Australia’s tradie drought to reach almost one million workers by 2035: report

Australia’s construction industry has raised the alarm about an almost one-million-worker shortfall by 2035, saying migration and domestic reform are essential to meet housing and infrastructure needs.

A new report by Master Builders Australia released on Monday found that an 85,100 annual worker deficit will snowball to about 935,600 in less than a decade if the current situation persists with no change.

Even under the most optimistic scenario where bold policy is applied, there will still be an estimated shortfall of about 84,100 workers by 2035.

The gap was attributed to a “structural mismatch” between the training pipeline capacity and the workforce required to support the $242 billion worth of infrastructure projects over five years and the multi-decade net-zero transition.

It comes months after Infrastructure Australia estimated the workforce will be 300,000 people shy of how many people are needed during the peak of the infrastructure pipeline in 2027.

Master Builders found that changes to the migration settings that recognise prior learning would unlock 18,400 qualified workers already living in Australia.

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“Migration remains an essential part of the solution, but it cannot replace the need to rebuild Australia’s domestic skills pipeline,” Master Builders chief executive, Denita Wawn, said.

The report therefore recommended another 31 policies to boost the workforce, including a payroll tax rebate on apprenticeship wages, expansion of group training organisations and a construction training bond to improve completion rates.

Wawn said these would be essential to meet the nation’s housing, infrastructure and economic ambitions.

“The longer action is delayed, the harder and more expensive this challenge will become,” she said.

“Together, these reforms would reduce the annual workforce shortfall by between 3590 and 5720 workers per year over and above the initial burst of activating 18,400 skilled workers.”

Skills and Training Minister Andrew Giles told nine.com.au he is trying to solve the worker shortfall in a targeted way by boosting skilled migration and TAFE and apprenticeships.

“After the Coalition left Australia with the worst skills shortages in 50 years, our Government has been focused on turning those shortages around, with targeted investments to ensure we’re growing the pipeline of workers Australia needs,” he said.

“TAFE and apprenticeships are a critical part of our tertiary education system – we’re making it easier for more Australians to kickstart their career with a Free TAFE qualification and $10,000 incentives for new apprentices in housing construction.

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“We’re also doing more to draw on the skills of migrants who are wanting to play their part.”

The number of visas for construction workers has tripled since 2019. In the 2024-25 financial year, 15,524 skilled visas were granted to construction workers, which was the highest figure in the past decade.

This year’s federal budget included $85 million to support migrants in Australia to have their skills recognised quicker.

The fee-free TAFE program has also resulted in 25,705 completions within the construction sector since it launched in 2023.