Building industry losing skills as apprentices go

STACY SQUIRES/The Press

ON HOLD: building apprentices are being laid off after residential construction work dropped almost 30 per cent in the last year and a half.

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About 1400 building apprentices have left the industry in the past year.

The amount of residential building work in New Zealand during the December 2008 quarter was 32.5 per cent down on the September 2007 quarter, Statistics New Zealand figures show.

Residential work dropped a seasonally adjusted 13.4 per cent in the December quarter alone. It was the fifth consecutive quarter to register a fall.

Registered Master Builders Federation chief executive Warwick Quinn said building companies had been reducing overheads and laying off staff for the past 18 months.

He was worried about the impact on the industry's skills base when the economy improved.

Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) chief executive Ruma Karaitiana said there were 9200 building apprentices 12 months ago and that figure had since dropped by 1400.

Another 920 had been laid off but were able to find work at other building firms.

February was the worst month, with a net loss of 240 apprentices, he said.

Many of them were two years into a 3 1/2-year programme.

"The wastage is a bit of a tragedy," Karaitiana said.

After two years, the apprentices were productive and committed to the industry, but the chance of their returning after losing their jobs was slim, he said.

The building and construction industry was likely to lead New Zealand out of the recession, and those leaving the industry were the ones that would be needed as things improved, he said.

The volume of all building work fell 6.5 per cent in the December quarter. The value during 2008 was $12 billion, down 7.5 per cent from the previous year. Non-residential building work rose 1.6 per cent in the December quarter, following a 5.2 per cent rise the previous quarter.

ASB economist Jane Turner said non-residential work had performed better than expected, but the housing sector would remain under considerable pressure.