A new national workforce survey has found that while New Zealand’s construction trades are technically capable, persistent gaps in business, planning, compliance and people leadership skills continue to affect productivity, business stability and workforce well-being.
ConstrucTrend 2025, funded by ConCOVE Tuhura and delivered in partnership with the Construction Growth Foundation (CGF), surveyed 357 employers and tradespeople across the carpentry, electrical, and plumbing, gas fitting and drainlaying trades.
Key findings:
- Trade-specific technical skills are strong, particularly among experienced tradespeople.
- Skills gaps are most evident in organising and planning, compliance, costing and quoting, and business management.
- Teaching, training and coordinating others are relevant to many roles but remain underdeveloped, particularly for recent graduates.
Why it matters
- A significant proportion of tradespeople start their own businesses within five years of completing an apprenticeship, often without formal preparation for business ownership.
- Uptake of digital and green technologies is uneven across the workforce, with strong employer demand for upskilling in areas such as AI, smart systems, energy efficiency and modern construction methods.
- Most upskilling in new technologies is occurring through on the job or self-directed learning rather than structured training.
Small and medium-sized businesses form the backbone of New Zealand’s construction sector. Gaps in business capability and leadership contribute to business instability, workforce stress, inconsistent apprenticeship experiences and lost productivity.
The findings indicate a need for better aligned pathways that support tradespeople not only to qualify, but to operate sustainable businesses and adapt to emerging technologies.
Next steps
ConstrucTrend provides an evidence base to inform workforce development, vocational education settings, SME support initiatives and future skills planning. ConCOVE and CGF recommend repeating the survey over time to track changes in workforce capability and extending it to additional trades.
