Australia's construction labour shortage in 2026–27: why the $242 billion pipeline is a staffing crisis

With significant investment being channelled into Australia’s construction industry to deliver landmark projects such as the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, Sydney Metro and the Australian Renewable Energy Hub in Western Australia, there’s never been a more enticing (or lucrative) time to work in construction. 

However, an estimated shortfall of 300,000 of the construction workers needed to deliver this record-breaking project pipeline – spanning civil infrastructure, commercial developments and residential builds – will make every sector feel the squeeze for talent.

Several compounding forces are driving the labour shortage at once:

• $242 billion national infrastructure pipeline (the highest ever recorded) is concentrating demand into a narrow 24-month construction window

• Multiple mega-projects across transport, energy, housing and defence competing for the same pool of engineers, project managers and specialist tradespeople

• The training and apprenticeship system cannot respond fast enough, with entry-level workers unable to fill technical vacancies (such as engineers, project manager or contract administrator roles)

• Regional markets are less attractive to workers, with limited worker housing and fewer training providers

• Post-COVID labour disruption has still not fully recovered, further stretching an already thin talent pool

Having tracked these patterns for half a decade, I've seen this kind of convergence before – but what makes it different now is the scale.

With a single delayed infrastructure project estimated to result in a $5 million loss to profitability, the true cost of not having the right people and skills in your team is grim. In this environment, the organisations who will weather this storm best will be those who have secured their talent before the market reaches its peak.

Infrastructure Australia predict that the demand for construction staff  will reach 521,000 workers by 2027 (revised upward from an earlier forecast of 417,000). And with multiple mega-projects also looking to tap into the same talent pools at the same time, locking in the workforce needed to deliver these projects isn’t going to be easy.

Australia's five-year major public infrastructure pipeline reached its peak at $242 billion in 2025 – with energy transmission construction alone jumping from $20 to $36 billion in a single year. Meanwhile, with transport ($129 billion), housing ($28 billion) and energy projects competing for engineers, project managers, site managers and specialised tradespeople, each new project announcement tightens the labour market further.  
 

Brunel has worked alongside clients and candidates in the sector long enough to understand this pressure firsthand. We also know that organisations planning to resource projects in 2026–27 won’t just be competing within their own sector – they’ll be up against the entire national project pipeline.
 

Queensland is set to become the nation’s largest pressure point, with a projected shortfall of 46,000 workers by 2028–29. Funded infrastructure investment is expected to peak at $15.7 billion annually in 2026–27, driven by major projects including Cross River Rail, Brisbane 2032 Olympic venues, Brisbane Metro, Gold Coast Light Rail and the Borumba Pumped Hydro project. With demand intensifying at this scale, workforce shortages have already been identified as a key escalation risk for Brisbane’s Olympic deadline.

Beyond the headline mega-projects, Queensland's commercial construction sector is also driving additional staffing demand. From mixed-use precincts in South East Queensland to industrial facilities supporting the resources corridor, the pressure is mounting. These projects don't just look for people locally – they pull skilled professionals from regional Queensland, making it increasingly difficult for companies with regional operations (such as mining and energy projects) to attract and retain capable teams.

From my home base in Brisbane, I’ve witnessed the talent pool tightening considerably over the past two years. At Brunel, my team and I cover civil, commercial and site-based technical roles, and the increased volume and urgency of enquiries we are fielding from our clients very much validates this perspective – and it is only a fraction of what’s to come as the 2032 Olympics gets closer.

So, for businesses operating in or procuring from Queensland, resourcing decisions need to be locked in now – not at contract award.

Right now, nearly two-thirds of small builders in NSW are struggling to find skilled labour. But the state is facing a more distinct challenge – a regional workforce crisis that is projected to quadruple within a single year, even outpacing metropolitan areas (where conditions are expected to ease by 2029).

Shortfalls facing the job market in regional areas include:

• Lower pay attractiveness relative to metropolitan markets
• Limited housing for incoming workers
• Fewer training providers and apprenticeship programs
• Greater geographic distance from established talent pipelines

Residential builders in regional NSW are among the hardest hit, facing simultaneous pressure from planning delays, material cost volatility and a shortage of site supervisors, estimators and construction managers. Brunel regularly fills these roles across NSW – and demand has never been higher.

In my experience, the businesses that struggle most in regional markets are those that treat resourcing later in the planning process. But a staffing strategy that works in Sydney rarely translates directly to Dubbo or Tamworth, and contractors operating outside metro areas need an incentive that’s of value to them. Workforce planning needs to be integrated at every stage of the project – especially at the start. 
 

Western Australia entered 2026 with a $38 billion infrastructure program rolling out over the next four years, spanning transport, energy, housing, mining and defence. These projects include the Westport Program (a multi-billion-dollar port relocation and freight corridor), Perth Airport's $5 billion redevelopment, the Henderson Defence Precinct and the Kwinana Freeway Upgrade.

In Perth's CBD, projects like Perth City Link, Garden Towers in East Perth and a wave of mixed-use residential towers are also adding to an already stretched workforce capacity. And these aren't small builds - they require deep talent pools of civil engineers, construction managers, project coordinators and specialist subcontractors who are being called from every direction across the state.

The large geography of Western Australia often works against construction companies operating in isolated areas, meaning that when local supply runs short, rapid backfill is structurally harder (compared to the east coast of Australia). But FIFO workers who travel to mine sites can be an alternate solution to fill this gap, with the ability to pivot into construction roles with minimal upskilling. Fast-tracked bridging programs (think weeks, not years) can convert “almost-ready” workers into productive site resources.

South Australia is investing a record $27.3 billion in major infrastructure over the coming four years, with over 30 projects worth more than $7 billion either planned, approved or already under construction in Adelaide alone. Headlining these projects are the River Torrens to Darlington Project, New Women's and Children's Hospital, Flinders Medical Centre redevelopment, an Entrepreneur and Innovation Centre at Lot Fourteen and the Northern Battery Project (a 270-megawatt grid-forming battery storage system planned for Port Augusta).

The state’s construction industry currently employs around 90,000 people, but will need a further 20,000 workers over the next five years to deliver on the major project pipeline alone. And with Master Builders South Australia predicting a labour shortage between 18,000 and 21,000 workers by mid-2027, action must be taken to prevent extreme worker strain and risk project viability. 

To combat the skills shortage in the sector, the SA Government announced a $29 million Housing Skills package aimed at creating 1,000 new trade apprenticeships, and opened five new technical colleges too. While this is a step forward, it is going to take some time to reach fruition – apprentices can’t fill the engineer or project manager vacancies right now.

A quick solution? Re-engage experienced workers. There is an underutilised cohort of semi-retired or career-break tradespeople who can step back in on flexible terms. Short-term contracts, reduced hours or advisory/supervisory roles can be used to lure critical experience back into the workforce fast, while the new generation of construction workers are up-skilling and entering the industry.
 

The shortage isn't uniform. Technical and management roles are the hardest to fill and the most damaging to lose. Construction Project Managers are in short supply across every single Australian state and territory, but the gap runs deeper than management.

The roles under the greatest pressure nationally include:
 

Civil infrastructure

• Civil engineers and senior project engineers
• Land surveyors and geotechnical specialists
• Contract administrators and commercial managers

Commercial construction

• Fitout and base-build project managers
• Building services engineers
• Trade package coordinators and superintendent representatives

Residential construction

• Construction managers and site supervisors
• Estimators and scheduling engineers
• Development managers overseeing land release programmes
   

Due to the technical knowledge and experience required for these roles, fast-tracking or substituting these jobs is not possible, where insufficient skills in project management or an engineering layer has significant impact on timelines, compliance and cost control. 

The financial consequence of project delays are no small matter. A 10% delay on a major capital project due to staffing difficulties would reduce the project’s profitability by an average of $5 million. Projects with active skills shortages face an average delay of around 20%, with labour costs rising 10–15% on extended timelines. That’s a lot of money!

When resourcing gaps compound with procurement delays and materials volatility, projects don't just run late – they erode margin, trigger contract penalties and damage client relationships that take time to build. The solution? Proactive talent planning – which is a fraction of the cost of reactive gap-filling under time pressure.

I've sat across the table from clients who have regretted not strategising for their people and skill needs six months earlier. The patterns that lead to that conversation are consistent and, in most cases, entirely preventable. Businesses that understand the market cycle and plan ahead are the ones that protect their pipelines.

For over 25 years, Brunel Australasia has delivered outstanding candidates for hard-to-fill technical roles – providing clients with a faster, lower-risk path to staffing continuity. With dedicated talent pools across civil infrastructure, commercial construction and residential projects, and industries that require highly skilled talent such as renewables, mining and defence, Brunel can get you ahead of your workforce needs.

Of course, choosing the right engineering recruitment agency in a market this tight is critical to project success. So, what makes Brunel’s service different?
 

• Genuine sector specialisation across civil, commercial and residential disciplines
• A national talent network that crosses state borders
• Workforce planning support from the project planning stage, not just at vacancy point

• Pre-qualified candidate pipelines built ahead of peak mobilisation phases

Rather than reactive hiring, Brunel can partner with project teams at the planning stage to map resourcing demand against project milestones, pre-qualifying and pipelining talent before the competition even starts looking. If your project is scheduled for 2026 or 2027, the best time to talk to Brunel was six months ago. The second-best time is now.