The magnitude of growth in demand for skilled workers has caught the Australian Government and employers short. Construction industry jobs surged by 31 per cent nationwide over the five years to 2005-06, compared with 11 per cent for all employment growth.

This escalation of demand, along with flat training levels, has generated serious shortages of civil engineers, construction tradespersons and bulldozer drivers, among other construction occupations. Specialist mining workers are scarce - not just here but elsewhere in the world - because training in these fields dropped off even more severely overseas than in Australia before the mineral boom.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/under-pressure-but-c...4/1157222070015.html