Engineers Australia CEO calls for action to address engineering shortages

Engineers Australia CEO Romilly Madew has called on industry and government to address engineering workforce shortages and boost productivity across the sector through harnessing the talent of Australia’s migrant engineers and strengthening the STEM pipeline.

Speaking at the Australian Financial Review Infrastructure Summit in Sydney on Thursday, Madew highlighted recent research from Engineers Australia on the untapped potential of migrant engineers.

“Our research shows that harnessing the skills of migrant engineers will help address the workforce shortages in key sectors like construction and could boost national output by $3.72 billion and GDP by $2.56 billion by 2030,” she said. “We know that 48% of overseas-born engineers — approximately 133,000 people — are underutilised and not working directly in engineering roles.

“Unlocking migrant talent strengthens productivity. We need coordinated, large-scale solutions from industry and government to reduce bias, recognise qualifications and build networks.”

Madew also highlighted the importance of STEM education in delivering the pipeline of engineering talent crucial to addressing workforce shortages.

“An urgent, concentrated effort to grow, strengthen and secure our national engineering capability is crucial to driving efficiency, economic growth and reform and infrastructure development,” she said. “We are calling on the Australian Government to set a target for an additional 60,000 engineer graduates by 2035, to ensure not only that retiring engineers are replaced, but that demand for engineering talent is met as we continue to grow our economy.

“The Australian Government must also signal to industry, universities and the workforce the importance of engineering capability and a strong engineering skills pipeline to Australia’s future. This can be achieved by committing to an ‘engineering surge’ that focuses on critical, targeted actions to dismantle barriers and strengthen the skills pipeline from school through to skilled migration.”

The summit comes as Infrastructure Australia (IA) released its latest Market Capacity Report, which highlights the nation’s surging pipeline of infrastructure projects alongside growing workforce shortages.

The Infrastructure Australia Market Capacity Report reveals that:

• Australia’s major public infrastructure pipeline totals $242 billion across the five years from 2024–25 to 2028–2029.
• 60% of surveyed firms identify skills and labour shortages as a major delivery risk.
• Professional roles including engineers and designers are increasingly stretched, particularly in the energy transition.
• Peak workforce demand has been revised upward from 417,000 to 521,000, now expected in mid-2027.
• 66% of the sector invested in workforce upskilling in the past year with engineers and designers leading at 85%.
• Stronger productivity reforms and workforce mobility are needed to meet Australia’s future pipeline.
   

“Engineering is at the heart of Australia’s economic and social progress, yet despite this critical role, we continue to see professional engineering capability stretched across key growth sectors including energy, water and commercial development, while demand for transport work remains strong,” Madew said.

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