ANZSCO 233211,12,14,15
Civil Engineering Professionals
Queensland
June 2015
Current labour market rating
Recruitment Difficulty
Previous labour market rating (May 2014)
No Shortage
Comments
A high proportion of civil engineering professional vacancies were filled without difficulty and overall, there
were high numbers of applicants. However, employers experienced difficulties when recruiting for structural
engineers, generally attracting only one (if any) suitable applicants.
Survey results
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In this year’s survey, vacancies were for the occupations of civil, structural and transport engineers
and ranged from graduate vacancies to senior managerial positions.
o Around 75 per cent of vacancies were in the private sector and a high proportion of these were
in engineering consultancies.
o Employers sought applicants with a range of experience in services such as subdivision and
housing developments, road, sewer and water engineering, tensile structures, development
assessment and transport planning.
o Some respondents required civil engineering professionals with Registered Professional
Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) endorsements.
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This year, 71 per cent of all vacancies for civil engineering professionals were filled within six weeks
of advertising, which was similar to the 75 per cent fill rate in last year’s survey.
Across the state, employers reported high numbers of applicants, with an average of 30.9 applicants
per vacancy this year, similar to the average recorded in May 2014 (31.3).
o Some employers with vacancies for civil engineers recorded over 100 applicants.
Despite the large number of applicants, on average, there were fewer suitable applicants per
vacancy this year (1.5) compared to last year (4.7).
Vacancies remained unfilled for a variety of reasons. Some employers were unable to find
applicants with appropriate management or engineering experience; some RPEQ accredited
applicants rejected the job offer on the basis of wages and regional employers sought graduate
applicants with connections to their locality to encourage retention.
Although the majority of vacancies were filled, only half the vacancies for structural engineers were
filled this year.
o On average, structural engineer vacancies attracted fewer applicants per vacancy (12.0) and
fewer suitable applicants per vacancy (0.5) than other civil engineering professional
occupations.
o All filled structural engineer vacancies were filled by applicants currently working in Australia
on 457 visas, while unfilled vacancies attracted no suitable applicants.
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Labour Economics Office Queensland
Department of Employment
o
Half of all employers advertising for structural engineers did not attract any suitable applicants
and many employers advised that they had advertised repeatedly in an effort to fill their
positions.
Unsuitable applicants
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Around 21 per cent of applicants were not qualified; this figure included other professionals such as
mechanical or electrical engineers.
Of the applicants who were qualified, 93 per cent were considered unsuitable.
o Some applicants did not have the requisite length of experience that employers sought while
other applicants lacked particular experience or skills such as management, consultancy, main
roads, development assessment or subdivision and housing developments.
o Employers considered many applicants from the resources sector unsuitable because they
lacked necessary skills and experience.
o Both regional and metropolitan employers advised that applicants from out of the local area
were considered unsuitable either due to their lack of local knowledge or concerns about
retention.
o Graduate engineers were considered unsuitable dependent on their university grading,
applications and resumes, familiarity with specific engineering software or work experience.
o Employers also considered applicants unsuitable if they were deemed an unsuitable cultural fit
with the employing organisation.
A number of overseas applicants eligible to work in Australia were considered unsuitable due to a
lack of local experience and knowledge of Australian codes and standards.
Demand and supply trends
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Civil engineers are predominantly employed in engineering consultancies, construction and the
government sector, and demand is dependent on levels of activity in the construction and resources
sector.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the trend value of engineering
construction activity done in Queensland fell by almost 25 per cent over the year to March 2015 and
is now below 2012 levels.1
The reduction in engineering construction has led to a reduction in demand for civil engineering
professionals. According to the Australian Department of Employment’s Internet Vacancy Index,
online vacancies for civil engineering professionals fell by around 45 per cent over the year to May
2015 and by almost 80 per cent over the past two years. 2
The most recent Counts of Australian Businesses shows that the number of Engineering Design and
Engineering Consulting Services with one or more employees declined by 2.5 per cent between
2012-13 and 2013-14.3
1
ABS, 8762.0 Engineering Construction Activity, March 2015, chain volume measures, trend,
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/8762.0Mar%202015?OpenDocument
2
Department of Employment, Labour Market information Portal, Vacancy Report, 12 month average , May 2015
3
8165.0 Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, Jun 2010 to Jun 2014
Labour Economics Office Queensland
Department of Employment
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Formal entry to these professions is via the completion of a four-year Bachelor of Engineering
degree majoring in Civil, Structural, or Transport Engineering. As of 30 June 2015, there were 4021
civil and structural engineers registered with the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland as
residing in Queensland.4
Exact commencement numbers for these courses are not available as some universities offer a year
of general engineering study before students select a discipline.
o Available figures show that the number of identifiable civil engineering students commencing
relevant bachelor degrees averaged around 176 a year between 2008 and 2010 before
increasing to 205 in 2011. Commencements then fell by over 11 per cent the following year but
have since increased by 23 per cent to 223 in 2013.5
o The number of students graduating from relevant undergraduate courses in Queensland
decreased by around 22 per cent between 2008 (304) and 2009 (237). Completions then
increased to an annual average of 498 each year between 2011 and 2013.6
Information provided by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection indicates that while
migration (both permanent and temporary) had been a significant source of supply to this
profession in 2007-08, its contribution has steadily declined.
o Records show that ten subclass 457 visas were granted to offshore civil engineering
professionals in the six months to March 20157 and six civil engineering professionals arrived in
Queensland in the ten months to April 2015 for the purposes of employment of one year or
more.8
Other indicators and issues
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Demand for civil engineering professionals is expected to continue to decrease with the Queensland
Major Contractors Association and Construction Skills Queensland forecasting that the value of
engineering construction work done in Queensland will halve to $19.7 billion in 2015-16.9
4
Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland, Search Register, June 2015,
http://www.bpeq.qld.gov.au/imis15/BPEQ/Finding_an_RPEQ/Search_Register/BPEQ/Navigation/SearchRegister/Directory.a
spx?hkey=0914fde4-8f61-4cf5-97a3-c477456e8e0f
5
Department of Education and Training, Higher Education Student Data Collection, 2013, customised tables, Award Course
Commencements (FOE)
6
Department of Education and Training, Higher Education Student Data Collection, 2013, customised tables, Course
Completions (Course Specialisations)
7
Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Subclass 457 Visa Grants Quarterly Pivot Table March 2015,
http://www.border.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics/work-in-australia
8
Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Overseas Arrivals and Departures 2014-15: 1 July to 30 April 2015,
https://data.gov.au/dataset/overseas-arrivals-and-departures/resource/54336e42-6b0e-4bfa-96c0dfcb27c7efb8?view_id=a38a476b-04ca-44d9-a8f9-767eba6713a5
9 Queensland Major Contractors Association and Construction Skills Queensland, 2015 Major Projects Report:
Queensland Engineering Construction Outlook, February 2015
Labour Economics Office Queensland
Department of Employment