Queensland posts 674 civil engineering jobs, ahead of NSW's 639

Why it matters

Brisbane Times ties the hiring surge to the Olympic building boom in Brisbane. It says the roles cover more than 20 fields, among them geotechnical, rail, structural, transport and water engineering.

Engineers Australia chief engineer Katherine Richards told the paper the figures showed the scale of opportunity, and the need to attract and develop talent for future projects. She said of the market: “It’s the place to be right now if you’re an engineer.”

The numbers

Queensland logged 674 civil engineering vacancies in August, according to the paper, against 639 in NSW and 369 in Victoria. That is almost 30 per cent above a year earlier.

On the pipeline, the paper cites a Queensland Major Contractors Association report released the week before, which put the state’s major infrastructure pipeline at $139.5 billion. QMCA chief executive Andrew Chapman said attention now had to turn to whether Queensland has the capacity, capability and productivity to complete the work.

Richards also pointed to retirements, saying about 70,000 engineers are expected to leave the workforce within 15 years, adding to workforce pressure. Brisbane Times notes that the Queensland Audit Office’s major projects report, published late last year, warned of a 50,000-worker shortfall this financial year.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie, who has ministerial oversight of Olympic infrastructure, told the paper Queensland was “open for business” and pointed to a $119 billion pipeline. The article does not reconcile that figure with the QMCA’s $139.5 billion.

What’s next

Brisbane Times reports an updated Queensland Audit Office report is due within weeks, which should show whether the projected worker shortfall has changed.

The article’s photo caption shows construction at the Brisbane Stadium site in Victoria Park, covered earlier here. The article does not name any specific employer or project behind the August vacancies, so the data says little about which Olympic or infrastructure packages are driving the hiring. Readers tracking delivery risk should watch the audit office update and the next monthly vacancy release.