The Australian economy

"Engineers and skilled workers are the people who maintain the infrastructure of industrial society, yet there is a growing worldwide shortage."

- RF

Fears of engineering brain drain as infrastructure projects dry up

Australia's engineering industry is undergoing a major contraction with one insider saying up to 7,000 jobs have been lost in the past six months

ABC,

9 June 2013

The mining slowdown is having an impact, but the problem has been compounded by a lack of private and government investment in big infrastructure projects in some states.

Global consulting firm Hyder has cut 10 per cent of its workforce since December.

Regional managing director Greg Steele says he has also taken a pay cut.

"My estimate across the country as far as consulting engineers is 5,000 to 7,000 people made redundant since Christmas," he said.

"Particularly Queensland and Victoria, [with] government spending down. [It's] very tough, we're scrambling for work."

Mr Steele said New South Wales and Western Australia were the only states where there was a healthy amount of work.

Professor John Wilson from Engineers Australia wants better long-term infrastructure planning from governments to keep workforces stable.

"The knowledge is critical," he said.

"It's not the sort of thing you can just switch on and switch off. It takes a while to build up a knowledge workforce and a skilled workforce.

"The catch is, when you start to lose your jobs due to some short-term demand hiccups, when we do need the skills, skills have either migrated interstate or overseas."

The Federal Government says the creation of Infrastructure Australia shows it is thinking long-term, while many state governments contacted by the ABC pointed to big infrastructure projects in the pipeline.

But a spokesperson for the Queensland's Infrastructure Minister, Jeff Seeney, said the Government was also "continuing the difficult task we began last year to rebuild the state's finances".

Adding to the engineering industry's woes at the moment is the movement of work offshore.

Mr Steele says the expense of Australian engineers means many global consultancies are being forced to give work to cheaper, overseas offices in order to win contracts.

"[The] Australian dollar rose, our salaries rose because of all the work here in Australia and we've become uncompetitive globally," he said.

"So part of our work is now in Manila and Bangalore."

He says given the flow of work offshore, it cannot be guaranteed Australian engineering jobs will come back, even when government spending picks up again.

"I think there's had to be a real structural shift," he said.

"The reality is we'll have to get work done overseas. And I'm not sure [the jobs will] all come back."