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​Tom Skevington, Manager of our Construction recruitment team, provides his observations and predictions from the 2023 PACE Survey for the Victorian Construction industry.

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Observations

• Salaries continued to rise above the rate of inflation in 2022. The key reasons for staff receiving increased salaries were for performance, promotion and fear or resignation.

• The 2021 PACE survey predictions of a busy year were accurate with 80% of construction companies seeing an increase or significant increase in business activity.

• 2021 saw a historically rigid industry demonstrate it can be flexible. It’s been proven that it wasn’t temporary as in 2023:

• 62% of construction companies are allowing staff to work from home

• 46% are offering flexible working hours

• 59% are now offering a five-day working week to Site Staff

• 88% of companies didn’t see a drop in productivity due to flexibility offerings

Predictions

• Construction industry insolvencies have climbed to a nine year high, and we expect the ‘boom and bust’ style market to continue, presenting both risk and opportunity to job seekers and business owners.

• Salaries won’t continue to soar at the same rate they have in recent years. We expect an increase of 4.7% for 2023/2024, which is below the rate of inflation for the first time in 10 years.

• Commercial staff will become even more valuable in an economically challenging market.

• We’ve already seen an increase in long-term temporary and contract hires to combat the lack of certainty around where the projects will be.

• Flexibility is here to stay, and the construction industry will continue to develop and push outside of their comfort zone.

If you’re after more insights from PACE, you can download the free 2023 PACE Salary Guide & Market Report.

Looking for a job in Construction? Get in contact with our Construction Recruitment team or Submit Your Resume.