New housing in Auckland's Flat Bush. The Government says solving the growing construction worker crisis will involve education, social welfare and other government departments.

The Government has outlined a multi-pronged approach to solving the country's shortage of construction workers.

Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa said its construction skills action plan would target six areas, bringing together the Government's control over its own contracts and immigration settings, with an additional focus on skills and training.

"Together we will ensure the construction sector can deliver the right people at the right time with the right skills to meet our construction needs."

SUPPLIED The shortage is a danger to the Government's housing, transport and infrastructure plans.

More than a quarter of million people are employed in the building sector but forecasts say another 55,000 to 60,000 more workers will be needed over the next five years

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Several ministers accompanied Salesa to make the announcement at an Auckland Housing NZ building site

Economic Development Minister David Parker will be in charge of leveraging government procurement to give companies more certainty to invest and train construction workers.

Meanwhile, Employment Minister Willie Jackson will be in charge of establishing hubs which will offering industry-specific training to job seekers, and partner with construction projects that offer recruitment and skills.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins will work on promoting construction careers and "micro-credentials," and Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni will work on expanding industry skills.

123rf Six ministers are working on solving the construction worker shortage.

Jackson also heads the "Mana in Mahi – Strength in Work" scheme, a wage subsidy for employers who hire registered job seekers and offer an industry qualification.

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway is in charge of further immigration changes. He has already flagged changes to immigration settings to speed up the importation of overseas construction workers.

Ron Angel, a co-ordinator for E tū union, said building companies working with the Government would have to provide training and skill development, "which we support".

The union also backed new qualifications in specialised areas such as framing manufacturing and the assembly of prefabricated buildings.

"We're in favour of this, especially if you get a qualification or credentials and you get extra money for that," Angel said.

The establishment of more industry hubs, with all the services needed to maximise recruitment, training and career development, was also a sound move, Angel said.

"We saw these set up in Christchurch after the quakes and they were very effective with a lot of activity generated out of them. It's a good idea."

ROSA WOODS/STUFF In June Immigration minister Iain Lees-Galloway scrapped plans for a Kiwibuild Visa in favour of wider changes to immigration settings. Pictured: Iain Lees-Galloway.

The construction worker shortage is a risk to the Government's backload of transport and infrastructure plans as well as its Kiwibuild election promise to facilitate 100,000 new houses in 10 years.

The announcement also confirmed a change to visa rules to make it easier to employ skilled migrants for specific projects.

However, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway has said the moves would not allow overseas workers to be paid less than their New Zealand counterparts.

Meanwhile, new data shows Auckland building consents have reached 12,959 in the year to August, eclipsing the city's previous record set during the building boom in 2004.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff said seven years ago the city was only issuing about 3,600 consents a year.

"The Auckland Unitary Plan is playing a significant role, opening up vast areas for new and more intensive housing. We are working on ways to find and increase infrastructure build to allow more housing."

Goff said Kiwibuild would add an additional extra 1000 social housing units a year. "We are still in catch-up mode and much more remains to be done to get on top of what is one of the biggest problems facing Auckland. ​

"However, these numbers show that real progress in the right direction is being made."

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