Tradies will get big wage increases that could push their salaries close to six-figures as the pay rise drought breaks for Australian workers.
For eight years, pay growth levels have been stuck at below-average levels, in many cases causing salaries to drop due to inflation.
But the closure of Australia's border to skilled migrants since the start of the Covid pandemic in early 2020 made it harder for employers to recruit staff.
The desire and ability of more people to work from home in a bigger house also led to a construction boom, with the federal government subsidising new homes and renovations with its HomeBuilder scheme.
Building workers have already been big beneficiaries with average, male full-time salaries surging by 3.9 per cent in just six months from $86,736 in November 2020 to $90,152 in May this year.
Tradies are set for big wage increases that could typically see them earn close to six- figure salaries as the pay rise drought breaks for other Australian workers (pictured is a woman on a building site at Mascot in Sydney's south)
The Australian Bureau of Statistics data covered everyone working on a building site, including semi-skilled labourers and not just highly paid and sought-after construction managers.
The Australian Industry Group and the Housing Industry Association expect wages in the construction sector to increase at an annual pace of six per cent in 2021, based on a survey of employers in October.
Should that materialise, tradies on building sites would have average, full-time salaries of $95,561.
Housing Industry Association economist Thomas Devitt said roofers, site preparation excavators, and ceramic tilers were particularly hard to find.
'It does seem like the wage pressures and skills shortages are more acute in construction than over the economy in general,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'It's been a broader trend of home building since last year: the surge in demand for new housing and renovations.'
Applications $15,000 HomeBuilder subsidies closed in April, but the scheme will still be going towards construction into 2023.
'There's going to be a strong pipeline of on-the-ground home-building activity to the end of next year and maybe beyond,' Mr Devitt said.
