Big Projects, Too Few Builders: New Zealand's $200 Billion Skills Shortage Explained for Skilled Workers

News · 2026-08-20 · 4 min read

Are you an engineer, a project manager or a tradesperson thinking about your next career step? The country has more infrastructure work than it has people to do it. Its government is also under pressure to solve this problem quickly. For skilled workers, that gives you a strong position.

For Indonesian workers searching for sponsored jobs New Zealand for Indonesian workers, here is what the situation looks like.

Plenty of money, not enough people

New Zealand's infrastructure industry has nearly $200 billion of projects that are committed or planned. These include roads, railways, water systems and energy upgrades. It looks like a building boom, but industry leaders say the country does not have enough qualified people to complete the work. More government money cannot solve that problem.

Tracey Ryan leads Aurecon New Zealand and is chair of Infrastructure New Zealand. She has been encouraging the industry to change how it thinks. Infrastructure should not be seen as just a list of building jobs. It should be seen as a real engine for economic growth. This is exactly why skilled migrants are so important now. New Zealand needs skills and experience, not only funding.

Four facts behind the worker shortage

These figures show why there is space for workers from other countries:

Fewer construction jobs. Construction employment dropped 3.5% in the year to March 2025. This continued a two-year fall that has cost the industry around 16,000 jobs.
Locals are leaving. In the year to September 2025, about 46,400 New Zealand citizens left the country on a net basis. Most of them moved across the Tasman to Australia, looking for higher pay and more stable work.
Not enough new engineers. The industry needs about 2,300 new engineers every year, and it is far from reaching that. Engineering degrees are a smaller share of all graduates than the OECD average. Also, a third of new engineering graduates leave the profession within two years.
Overseas engineers already play a big role. Around one in three engineers working in New Zealand today were trained overseas. The system already depends heavily on migration.

Nick Leggett, chief executive of Infrastructure New Zealand, has spoken very directly about this cycle. When projects are cancelled, skilled workers leave the industry completely. Or they move to countries where work is more reliable.

Lessons from a finished rail tunnel

The Auckland City Rail Link project is a warning that the industry often talks about. When the tunnelling work finished, more than 100 tunnel boring machine operators left New Zealand. If the country needs those skills again for a future Waitematā Harbour crossing, it will need to build that group of workers again, almost from nothing. This is a costly lesson. It shows that steady, ongoing work, not just a large amount of work, is what keeps skilled people in a country.

Engineering New Zealand's Dr Richard Templer said something similar in early 2025. He explained that the profession needs more than projects. It needs certainty. That means a pipeline of work that continues after each election, so professionals can plan their careers with confidence.

Forecasts show demand will keep rising

This is not a short-term problem. MBIE's national construction forecasts expect infrastructure activity to grow from $16.9 billion in 2024 to $19.6 billion by 2030. Total construction spending is expected to reach $55.7 billion in 2025 alone.

The transport sector shows how big the shortage is. Officials estimated that transport would need about 65,000 workers by 2026/27. Only a few years before, the number was 40,000. Officials themselves said this growth was faster than the local workforce could realistically provide.

How this can help your job search

Think about skilled migrants in engineering, construction management and specialist trades. They are facing a long-term shortage, growing demand and a government that wants to keep the pipeline believable. In this kind of situation, visa pathways, interest in sponsorship and competitive salaries usually get better. Employers are doing more than advertising jobs. They are competing for a smaller group of qualified people. That competition helps migrant candidates.

The shortage will not fix itself. New Zealand first needs a work pipeline stable enough to stop its own workers from leaving. Until then, the door remains open for skilled professionals who are ready to step through it.

Getting ready as an Indonesian applicant

If New Zealand interests you, start preparing early. Write a clear English-language CV that shows your projects and skills. Take an English test such as IELTS or PTE if your visa or employer requires one. If a police certificate is requested, you can get an SKCK from the Indonesian National Police.

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