A local consulting company claims labour demand in WA could surge by as much as 40 per cent in 2012, quashing previous projections by an economic forecaster that engineering work will slump by 20 per cent.
WA firm Pit Crew Consulting today said it disagreed with BIS Shrapnel's recent engineering work forecast, which tipped a 20 per cent fall in engineering work over the next two years.
BIS had said the fall was due to activity in mining and mining-related sectors, such as rail and habours, retreating from unprecedented levels.
Today Pit Crew - which provides project market tracking and labour analysis to the resources, engineering and construction sectors - forecast an overall increase of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in labour demand for major projects over the next two years.
Pit Crew further claimed that by mid-2012, demand could be as high as 40 per cent on current levels.
"The level of labour demand is directly related to the amount of engineering construction being undertaken, so we struggle with the recent report," Pit Crew managing director Peter Dyball said.
"There's currently over $100 billion dollars worth of approved projects in WA - projects which have financial commitment or are already underway, with the prospect of a further $100 billion worth of projects in the pipeline."
He added that major project developers today had similar levels of workers on site as they did a year ago, and this was set to be largely sustained over the next 24 months.
"There was a drop in late 2008 and early 2009 as a number of projects were completed, however for the past 6 months total labour numbers for site construction have remained fairly static," Mr Dyball said.
However, Mr Dyball did note a more sustained decline was being felt in the engineering sector due a number of projects at the study or feasibility stage were suspended.
"With the drop in commodity prices, the prospect of some of those projects moving forward is still slim,"
"However the commodities which overwhelmingly dominate the WA market are iron ore and LNG.
"The iron ore price has risen and stabilised, demand is looking more predictable and the global market sees WA as an attractive place to source LNG, so we have good reason to feel more confident about the future."
