1. OUR BUSINESS
ALWAYS IN PROGRESS
ACENZ INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT REPORT 2015

2. ACENZ has compiled the information in this document from a number of sources. ACENZ has not verified that such information is correct, accurate or complete. Whilst every care has been taken in the prepa-
ration of this document, ACENZ makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any statement in it including, without limitation, any forecasts. Historical trends are not necessarily
a reliable indicator for actual future performance. ACENZ accepts no liability or responsibility to any party in respect of this document. This document has been prepared for the purpose of providing general
information, without taking account of any particular person’s objectives, situation or needs. You should seek professional advice having regard to your own objectives, situation and needs before taking any
action.
This publication is a value added service to our esteemed members. While every care is taken in the analysis, the study is interpretive and not conclusive. Therefore, information should be used as a reference
and not to be reproduced in total or by section without written permission from ACENZ or any of the organisations which original data was sourced.

3. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
PROVIDERS 2
PEOPLE 12
RESOURCES 20
PRODUCTS 28
OUR BUSINESS 34
REFERENCES 36
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ACENZ wishes to thank its members and the following organisations and parties
who contributed to the development of this survey and report:

4. INTRODUCTION
& ABOUT US
ACENZ THE TRUSTED ADVISOR
ACENZ is a firm based organisation that focuses on the business of consulting in the built and natural environment.
Our members are located all over New Zealand and range from sole practitioners to multi-national companies of
over 2,000 personnel. Our member firms comprise nearly all New Zealand consulting engineering firms who offer
a range of services from specialty engineering such as Food Process Engineering and Fire Engineering to the com-
monly thought of “engineering” disciples of structural and civil.
We focus our goals, activities, strategies on what’s good for the business of consulting, targeting our members’
interests and acting as the Trusted Advisor to the public for the national good. ACENZ has demonstrated strong
influence on decision makers in achieving positive outcomes relevant to public policy, procurement practices, regu-
lation and legislation.
“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” - Tom Peters
OUR BUSINESS ALWAYS IN PROGRESS
The business of ACENZ is focused on activities and services that enhance the business of our member firms. In
order to maintain a high level of service we need to have an ongoing and clear understanding of the business of our
members, and undertake detailed reviews to update that insight on a regular basis. We have categorised the out-
comes of this first significant and formative study about the business of consulting engineering into four segments
(as below). We hope the research content and resulting document will paint an informative picture of ‘Our Busi-
ness’, and help ourselves and others in defining who we are and what we do.
OUR
BUSINESS
PEOPLE
PROVIDERS
PRODUCTS
RESOURCES
ACENZ
Members are
diverse in size with
firms ranging from
sole providers to
large, nationwide
firms of 2000+
personnel.
ACENZ
Member Firms
employ a combined
10,000+ employ-
ees all across New
Zealand.
$2 Billion
turnover p.a.
(total member firms)
which translates to
about $20 Billion
of capital plant and
infrastructure
Members are
diverse in discipline
with firms offering an
array of professional
services in the built
and natural
environment.
1 – SNAPSHOT

5. PROVIDERS
ALWAYS IN PROGRESS
ACENZ INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT REPORT
2–PROVIDERS

6. ACENZ PERSONNEL SURVEY
The ACENZ Personnel Survey is an annual collection of member data,
that collects information on the total personnel numbers, segmented
by experience levels and professional qualifications, which represent
ACENZ Ordinary Membership.
The following data represents the aggregate results of the 2015 Personnel Survey which was completed between
January and March 2015. ACENZ 2015 Member Firms estimated personnel - 123 out of 174 members have
responded to the survey. For members that have not yet responded to the survey, previous year’s data are used for
analysis purposes.
GRADUATE 5-9 YEARS EXPERIENCE 10+ YEARS EXPERIENCE OVERSEAS PERCENTAGE
Engineers 1,104 1,050 2,482 334 50%
Architects 47 43 97 6 2%
Planners 65 78 176 4 3%
Land Surveyors 71 50 117 8 2%
Valuers 2 3 3 1 0%
Scientists 65 67 176 6 3%
Management 4 3 330 26 4%
IT Support 14 41 106 2 2%
Admin (finance/sales/marketing) 138 230 645 58 11%
Others 70 88 393 82 6%
Contract Engineers 8 17 80 1 1%
Other Contractors 22 21 47 0 1%
CAD Operators/draftspersons 159 286 288 43 8%
Other Technicians 264 257 110 2 6%
Percentage 21% 22% 51% 6% 100%
TOTAL 9,890
TOTAL PERSONNEL BY CATEGORY AND EXPERIENCE
Engineers: 50% of our firms’ personnel are Engineers, of which 50% of them have more than 10 years’ experience.
6% of them are based overseas. About 27% of the personnel are technical professionals e.g. Architects, draftsper-
sons, technicians etc. About 23% of them are the Management and support staff. This does not include sole practi-
tioners/micro companies whereby the owners are both the engineers and directors, in which they would usually be
classified as Engineers.
GRAPH ABOVE:
50% Engineers, 11% Admin, 8% CAD Draftsman, 6% Other Technicians,
6% Other, 4% Management, 3% Scientists, 3% Planners, 2% Architects,
2% Land Surveyors, 2% IT Support, 1% Contract Engineers, 1% Other
Contractors.
GRAPH ABOVE
51% Experienced 10+ Years, 22% Experienced 5-9 Years, 21%
Graduates (1-4 years), 6% Overseas Professionals.
3 – PROVIDERS

7. TOTAL PERSONNEL YEAR OVER YEAR
ACENZ began collecting data electronically in 2006 and the table below illustrates our historical growth over the
past ten years. We surmise the small decline of personnel from 2014 to 2015 is a result of fewer major projects as
well as mergers and acquisitions within the industry.
2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
TOTAL Staff 9,890 10,172 9,645 9,116 8,561 9,021 8,926 9,217 8,485 7,840
A combination of increased government investment in new infrastructure, particularly major highway projects,
(1,025 kilometres of the highway network was renewed in 2013/14) and Canterbury Rebuild works resulting from
the earthquake events caused a significant increase in immediate requirements for engineering resources. This is
evident in member firm staff numbers escalation over the years 2012 through to a peak in 2014. There is now a
slow-down in related design activities resulting in a stabilisation of human resource numbers. The year 2014 was
highlighted by the activities of mergers and acquisitions happening around the world (refer to page 10). That is
reflected in our membership numbers where we have 3% deduction in total staff after re-consolidation.
MEMBER FIRMS BY SIZE
The data below reflects membership of Ordinary Members (as opposed to Associate Membership) year over year
based on firm’s total size. The amount of firms with more than 20 staff are the highest in the past 10 years.
TOTAL Personnel 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Sole Practice 30 37 34 32 32 40 44 40 48 44
2-5 Personnel 35 38 37 35 42 43 41 37 28 39
6-10 Personnel 27 22 26 25 25 33 30 27 33 24
11-15 Personnel 17 18 16 17 12 7 11 12 12 17
16-20 Personnel 11 13 14 15 10 10 9 8 15 9
21-49 Personnel 29 23 24 19 19 18 18 19 17 18
50 or more Personnel 25 24 22 20 20 23 22 23 22 20
TOTAL Member Firms 174 175 173 167 169 174 175 166 175 171
53% of ACENZ members have less than or equal to 10 staff. Our top 15 firms (by firm size, detailed on pages 5-6)
constitute to 77% of ACENZ members’ total personnel.
4–PROVIDERS

8. LARGEST 15 MEMBER FIRMS
The significance of the 15 largest member firms of ACENZ is the make up of the Large Firm Forum (LFF). The firms
have been ranked by their total personnel size with 1 being the largest and 15 the smallest. As previously conclud-
ed on page 4, the top 15 firms total personnel represents 77% of the total personnel of all ACENZ Member Firms.
2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Beca 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2
Opus 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1
AECOM 3 5 5 4 4 7 7 9 8 9
Aurecon 4 3 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 5
MWH 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Tonkin & Taylor 6 7 6 8 8 10 10 8 9 4
GHD 7 6 8 6 6 6 6 6 6 7
Jacobs (formerly SKM) 8 8 7 7 7 8 8 7 5 6
Harrison Grierson 9 10 10 11 11 11 11 10 7 8
Holmes Group 10 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 12 12
Calibre (formerly Spiire) 11 13 12 10 10 5* 5* 5 11 11
Babbage 12 12 14 14 13* 13 13 12 13 13
WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff 13 14 13 13 15 15 x x x x
Wood & Partners 14 x 15 x x x x x x x
Norman Disney & Young 15 x x x x x x x x x
URS (now under AECOM) x 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 10 10
Cardno x 15 x x x x x x x x
* Did not respond that year (previous year’s data was used)
x Not on the table in that year
The below colour chart will help identify firms by categorical size. ACENZ will never release a firm’s exact size.
TOTAL Number of Personnel 1500-2000+ 1000-1499 500-999 300-499 100-299 Below 100
Colour Key
These pages conclude the data and findings from the 2015 ACENZ Personnel Survey. We would like to thank all of
our participating members:
Abley Transportation Consultants Ltd
ABUILD Consulting Engineers Ltd
Adam Mackenzie Consulting Structur-
al Engineer
AECOM Ltd
Airey Consultants Ltd
Allan Estcourt Ltd
Aqualinc Research Ltd
AR Civil Consulting Ltd
Arnold & Johnstone Limited
Aurecon New Zealand Ltd
Babbage Consultants Ltd
Barnett & MacMurray Ltd
BCD Group Ltd
Beca Group
Bert Kroon & Associates
BGT Structures (Auckland) Ltd
Bloxam Burnett & Olliver Ltd
Blueprint Consulting Ltd
BPL Group
BSK Consulting Engineers Ltd
Buchanan & Fletcher Ltd
Building Code Consultants Ltd
BVT
Byrne & Wanty Consultants Ltd
Calibre Consulting Ltd
Cardno (NZ) Ltd
Chapman Oulsnam Speirs Ltd
Chapman Sanders Consultants
CLC Consulting Group Limited
Clendon Burns & Park Ltd
Constructure Ltd
Cook Costello Ltd
Cosgroves Ltd
Crossfire
D N Undrill Consulting Engineer
Damwatch Engineering Ltd
David Hamilton & Associates Ltd
David Hopkins Consulting Ltd
Davidson Group Ltd
Davis Ogilvie & Partners Ltd
Design Management Consultants Ltd
DHC Consulting Ltd
DJY Design Limited
Dobbie Engineers Ltd
Don Thomson Consulting Engineers
Dunning Moore & Associates
Dunning Thornton Consultants Ltd
ENGEO Incorporated
Engineering Geology Limited
Ensor Consulting
Ensor Partnership Ltd
Ergo Consulting Limited
Flow Transportation Specialists
Limited
Fraser Thomas Ltd
G R Littler
Geoff Kell Consulting Ltd
GHD Limited (Auckland)
Good Earth Matters Consulting
Limited
Graeme W Robinson
Grant Crook Consulting Engineers Ltd
Hadley & Robinson Ltd
Hadley Consultants Ltd
Hanlon & Partners Ltd
Harrison Grierson Consultants Ltd
Hawthorn Geddes Engineers &
Architects Ltd
Holmes Group Limited
I J Alexander Ltd
Ian Hutchinson Consultants Limited
Ian Smith Project Services Limited
J D Consulting Engineers Ltd
Jackson Clapperton & Partners Ltd
Jacobs New Zealand Ltd
Jeff Booth Consulting Ltd
John H Klimenko & Associates
Kerslake & Partners
Kirk Roberts Consulting Engineers Ltd
Lewis & Barrow Ltd
Lewis Bradford & Associates Ltd
LHTDesign
Macdonald Barnett Partners Ltd
Malcolm Nielsen Consulting Engineer
Ltd
Marriott Consulting Engineers
Meyer Engineering Ltd
MSC Consulting Group Ltd
MWH New Zealand Ltd
Nancekivell Cairn Ltd
NET Group
Nigel Harwood Engineering Con-
sultant
Norman Disney & Young Ltd
Novare Design Limited
Opus International Consultants
Pacific Consultants
Panton Consulting Limited
PDV Consultants Ltd
Pedersen Read Ltd
Powell Fenwick Consultants Ltd
Radley Consultants Ltd
Resolve Group
Resource Development Consultants
Ltd
Richardson Stevens Consultants
(1996) Ltd
Riley Consultants Ltd
Ruamoko Solutions Ltd
Silvester/Clark Consulting Engineers
Smart Alliances Ltd
SMEC New Zealand Ltd
Spencer Holmes Limited
Stevenson Brown Limited
Strata Group Consulting Engineers
Ltd
Structured Solutions Ltd
Terrane Consultants Ltd
Tesla Consultants Ltd
TH Consultants Ltd
Thorburn Consultants (NZ) Ltd
Thurlow Consulting Engineers &
Surveyors Ltd
TM Consultants Ltd
Tonkin & Taylor Ltd
Traffic Design Group Limited
Valentine Consulting Engineering Ltd
Verstoep & Taylor Ltd
Voss Infrastructure Consulting Ltd
Wes Edwards Consulting
Woods Engineering
WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff
5 – PROVIDERS

9. OUR MEMBERSHIP BY REGION
ACENZ is a national organisation with member firms spanning the entire country. While the majority of our events
happen in the three major centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, our Area Representatives coordinate
regional activity. Partner with ACENZ to reach our members, no matter what part of the country you are located in
or wanting to reach.
AKL &
NORTHLAND
43%
CANTERBURY
22%
WLG
16%
West Coast
Southland
Otago
3%
Waikato
6%
Central
North
9%
Nelson
Blenheim
1%
6–PROVIDERS

10. CONSULTING ENGINEERING ENTERPRISES AND
EMPLOYEE COUNT IN NEW ZEALAND
Consulting Engineering Services fall under the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Industry within
the classification system of Statistics New Zealand. It is the third largest industry by number of enterprises after
‘Rental, Hiring, and Real Estate Services’ and ‘Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing.’ In the Provider Segment we will
separate Consulting Engineering Services from the Construction Industry.
NUMBER OF ENTERPRISES BY SERVICE CATEGORY
SERVICE CATEGORIES:
AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & FISHING
MINING
MANUFACTURING
ELECTRICITY, GAS, WATER & WASTE
CONSTRUCTION
WHOLESALE TRADE
RETAIL TRADE
ACCOMMODATION & FOOD
TRANSPORT, POSTAL & WAREHOUSING
INFORMATION MEDIA & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FINANCIAL & INSURANCE
RENTAL, HIRING & REAL ESTATE
PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC & TECHNICAL
ADMINISTRATIVE & SUPPORT
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SAFETY
EDUCATION & TRAINING
HEALTH CARE & SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
ARTS & RECREATION
OTHER
Chart shown in (000)
20 40 60 80 100 120
CLASSIFICATIONS OF STATISTICS NEW ZEALAND
M Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
M 69 Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
M 692 Architectural, Engineering & Technical Services
M 692100 Architectural Services
M 692200 Surveying and Mapping Services
M 692300 Engineering Design and Engineering Consulting Services
M 692400 Other Specialised Design Services
M 692500 Scientific Testing and Analysis Services
ANZSIC06 M692300
YEAR ENTERPRISES EMPLOYEE COUNT
2010 4,305 14,500
2011 4,433 14,870
2012 4,595 15,780
2013 4,739 17,140
2014 4,971 18,530
ACENZ MEMBERS 3.50% 53%
Of the 52,785 enterprises in the Professional, Scientific & Technical Services category (M692300), ACENZ Mem-
bers represent 3.5% and the employee count represents 53% of the New Zealand Employee Count in that same
category.
Primary Activities of M6923000:
• Boat designing service
• Building consulting service
• Building inspection service
• Chemical engineering consulting service
• Civil engineering consulting service
• Construction consulting service
• Drafting service, engineering
• Electrical engineering consulting service
• Electronic engineering consulting service
• Engineering consulting service
• Geotechnical engineering consulting service
• Hydraulic engineering consulting service
• Industrial design service
• Marine engineering consulting service
• Materials handling engineering consulting
service
• Mechanical engineering consulting service
• Traffic engineering consulting service
7 – PROVIDERS

11. ENGINEERS EMPLOYMENT GROWTH RATES
IN NEW ZEALAND 2013 VS 2006
Data collected from Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Education as well as the Census is reported below to il-
lustrate the growth in engineering demand comparatively from 2006 to 2013. Our conclusion is that New Zealand
is still relying on overseas professionals to meet our greatest demands, mainly with engineers from Great Britain
and the United States.
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH RATES 2013 VS 2006 (Census data)
233212 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER
233112 MATERIALS ENGINEER
233214 STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
233611 MINING ENGINEER
233511 INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER
133211 ENGINEERING MANAGER
233512 MECHANICAL ENGINEER
233211 CIVIL ENGINEER
233311 ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
233215 TRANSPORT ENGINEER
233612 PETROLEUM ENGINEER
233111 CHEMICAL ENGINEER
233411 ELECTRONICS ENGINEER
233915 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER
Growth or decline % of 2013 data compared to 2006
This data shows the greatest growth in discipline has been Geotechnical Engineers with the largest decline being
Environmental Engineers. The below table contributes data from both Immigration New Zealand and Ministry of
Education to illustrate potentially where the growth rates are sourcing from.
ANZSCO
Occupations Registering
Highest Growth Rates
Overseas - Total Resident & Work Visas Ap-
proved from Feb 14-Jan 2015
Local - 2013 Graduates from
Honours and Above
233212 Geotechnical Engineer 88 60
233112 Materials Engineer 18 70
233214 Structural Engineer 215 170
LABOUR MARKET TREND
Part of the ACENZ Personnel Survey, asks a series of questions based on the current industry and business fore-
casts to give us an idea of our member firms’ needs. *Note that not all firms answered these questions. From this
we deduce that for those firms that answer, New Zealand qualified professionals and new engineering graduates
remain the top two highest employments and they are still filling the roles in the first quarter of 2015. Also note the
engineering professionals employment growth is projected at 3.8% on average from year 2013-18, greater than
the 2.1% national average (MBIE, ‘Medium-Long Term Employment Outlook-Looking Ahead to 2023’ page 7).
No. of Recruited in
2013*
No. of Recruited in
2014*
No. of Current
Vacancies
Do You Expect to
Recruit in 2015?
New Engineering Graduates 285 332 186 Yes - 48 No - 54
Experienced (Non-Professional Level) 173 126 49 Yes - 24 No - 55
NZ Qualified Experienced
(Professional, Chartered or Registered)
390 214 209 Yes - 51 No - 44
Overseas Qualified Experienced 147 136 10 Yes - 16 No - 59
Technicians - Newly Qualified 44 43 12 Yes - 9 No - 66
Technicians - Experienced NZ Trained 38 36 17 Yes - 9 No - 64
CAD - Graduate 23 37 10 Yes - 16 No - 62
CAD - NZ Trained 43 28 28 Yes - 32 No - 54
CAD - Experienced Overseas Trained 30 16 3 Yes - 8 No - 64
Other Technical Staff 66 63 5 Yes - 13 No - 61
-40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 140%
8–PROVIDERS

12. RECENT NOTICEABLE CHANGES IN TREND
As part of the ACENZ Personnel Survey, we ask a series of varying questions based on the current industry and
business forecasts to give us an idea of our member firms’ needs. *Note that not all firms answered these ques-
tions. After analysing the data we concluded that Structural, Civil and Geotechnical Engineering roles are being
reported difficult to be filled across New Zealand (with the exception of Gisborne and West Coast Regions).
Other jobs reported are Fire Engineers, Transport Engineers, Water Resources Engineers, Acoustics Engineers,
Traffic Modellers and Planners were difficult to recruit mainly in Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington.
CHANGES IN TREND (ACENZ Personnel Survey Questionnaire)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
ACENZ MEMBERS’ COMMENTS ON EMPLOYING STAFF IN 2014
NA - No
Change
Improved Staff
Retention
Reduced
Availability of
Resources
Returning
Number of
Migrants
Worse Staff
Retention
Increased
Availability of
Resources
On Employment from
Overseas:
“Have recruited overseas
staff before but find them
unreliable, preferring short
term employment in the
region.”
“The staff employed from
overseas both n ever came
to New Zealand hence our
reluctance to now seek
overseas candidates.”
On Shortage:
“A lack of NZ qualified/expe-
rienced structural engineers.
Department of Immigration
can be difficult to deal with
when employing interna-
tional engineers and CAD
operators.”
“We turn down a lot of work
because we do not have
enough staff.”
On Quality:
“Graduates lack basic
numeracy and literacy. Very
concerning for the future.”
“Quality of skills lacking -
particularly basic consulting
skills.”
“Poor quality of graduates,
too much time wasted in
4th year on lecturer pet
projects of academic use
only and basics not been
followed through.”
Other:
“Concerned with how ag-
gressive recruitment compa-
nies are at approaching staff
of all levels of experience.”
“We have had some
approaches from Australia
which has never happened
before.”
“Many applicants un-
suitable for the positions
advertised.”
9 – PROVIDERS

13. HOT TOPIC - MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Extract from ‘Engineering Growth - Fourth Quarter 2014 Engineering & Construction Industry Mergers Acquisi-
tions Analysis’ by PWC, February 2015.
Engineering and construction transaction volume for deals above $50 million increased by 25% in 2014 as the
value of transactions more than tripled. Volume picked up considerably in the second half of the year as illustrated
below.
DEAL ACTIVITY BY NUMBER OF DEALS
Measured by number of deals worth $50 million or more (2013, 2014, 4Q14)
DEAL ACTIVITY BY VALUE OF DEALS ($US Bill)
Measured by value of deals worth $50 million or more (2013, 2014, 4Q14)
2013 2014 4Q14 2013 2014 4Q14
250
200
150
100
50
0
200
150
100
50
0
($USBill)
173
173
134
39
218
45
173
64
52
12 21
71
101
34
55
54
16
38
Number of deals Total deal value
Number of deals excluding deals with US targets and/or acquires Total deal value excluding deals with US targets and/or acquires
Number of deals with US targets and/or acquires Total deal value for deals with US targets and/or acquires
GLOBAL ACTIVITY - DEAL MARKET CHARACTERISTICS
Extract from ‘Engineering Growth - Fourth Quarter 2014 Engineering & Construction Industry Mergers Acquisi-
tions Analysis’ by PWC, February 2015.
On a regional basis, deal volume was highest in Asia, where investors were involved with 115 deals for the year. A
large majority of these deals were local as elimination of excess capacity has been the primary driver of regional
consolidation across the engineering and construction sector. We expect inbound activity in Asia to accelerate
and advise companies to keep their eye on long-term structural shifts in power and demographics that favour the
region. Europe was a prime location for deal making with significant local and inbound activity. Foreign and local
companies are shopping in the region for high-quality assets. The United States experienced limited inbound activ-
ity but local volume included some significantly sized megadeals; a strong dollar and aggressive valuations might
deter foreign investors despite favourable economic conditions.
NORTH AMERICA
Local - 38 deals, $51.8 Billion
Inbound - 7 deals, $3.3 Billion
Outbound - 13 deals, $19.4 Billion
SOUTH AMERICA
Local - 4 deals, $1 Billion
Inbound - 0 deals
Outbound - 4 deals, $1.4 Billion
AFRICA/UNDISCLOSED
Local - 3 deals, $0.7 Billion
Inbound - 3 deals, $0.3 Billion
Outbound - 3 deals, $0.6 Billion
EUROPE
Local - 41 deals, $61.3 Billion
Inbound - 12 deals, $24.7 Billion
Outbound - 13 deals, $4.1 Billion
ASIA/OCEANIA
Local - 96 deals, $26.5 Billion
Inbound - 14 deals, $3 Billion
Outbound - 5 deals, $5.8 Billion
10–PROVIDERS

14. MEGADEALS
Extract from ‘Engineering Growth - Fourth Quarter 2014 Engineering & Construction Industry Mergers Acquisi-
tions Analysis’ by PWC, February 2015. (The megadeals in 2014 in Civil Engineering Firms (value of $1 Billion USD or more).
DECLARED
(2014)
TARGET NAME TARGET
NATION
ACQUIRER NAME ACQUIRER
NATION
STATUS USD
$Bill
April Alstom SA-Energy Business France GE US Pending 17.12
July URS Corp US AECOM Technology Corp US Completed 3.89
June Alstom SA France France France Intended 2.94
June Kentz Corp Ltd Jersey SNC-Lavalin Group Inc UK Completed 1.94
December Balfour Beatty PLC-PPP Portfolio UK John Laing Infrastructure Fund Guernsey Pending 1.56
September Parsons Brinckerhoff Group Inc US WSP Global Inc Canada Completed 1.35
April Alstom SA-Auxiliary Components Business Germany Triton Advisers Ltd Jersey Completed 1.01
NOTES:
PwC analysts are monitoring several additional trends expected to affect the values of deals in engineering and
construction (Data sourced from PWC):
• Full service integration is gaining popularity. The industry continues on a path toward full service integration,
which has been a central theme of acquisition activity. Multinational clients are ‘rationalizing’ vendors, choos-
ing firms that can perform end-to-end service while firms are looking to leverage higher value added services,
such as design.
• Urbanization and demographic shifts play into global growth plans. The near-term economic outlook continues
to favour the United States, but emerging markets remain the engine of long-term global growth. Potential
acquirers have become more selective as new baseline growth rates in emerging markets are established but
should remain focused on the longer-term megatrends.
• China construction outlook continues to be bleak. Sales of commercial and residential buildings as well as
development property continue to decline in China. The apparent oversupply in the building materials sector
will continue to drive consolidation in the region.
• Financial investors remain active in the sector. Financial investors have shown interest in the sector as evi-
denced by their participation in several megadeals. They have shown particular interest in the European region
on the expectation of finding undervalued assets after years of subdued earnings.
• Joint venture activity is on the rise. Companies are increasingly using joint ventures to expand geographic
reach and broaden service lines but this increases project complexity and risk.
• The talent gap widens. The skilled labour gap is emerging as a major theme as companies struggle to fill talent
needs, particularly in skilled areas such as engineering and design. As companies look to invest in growth,
talent considerations will become a more critical consideration in merger due diligence.
• As buildings go green, so do Engineering &Construction companies. With increasing regulatory pressure,
the focus has intensified on sustainable and green construction, supporting the overall reduction in carbon
footprint. The acquisition activity is expected to gain momentum in this space, with large firms eyeing niche
companies specializing in sustainable development.
SUMMARY
Despite a diminishing workload in major infrastructure projects and design engineering input to the Canterbury
rebuild, the business of consulting engineering remains buoyant. The momentum resulting from a high workload in
years 2013/2014 has carried forward into this year. However, there is potential for a slow down during the latter
part of 2015 due to indications of a reduced level of investment in new infrastructure works. The historical cycle of
‘boom & Bust’ that has been common to the construction industry needs to be effectively managed and levelled by
the public sector and major clients in phasing large projects and allocating a consistent workload. Consulting engi-
neering firms in New Zealand are susceptible to corporate and strategic changes happening in the USA and other
parts of the world. In the past year this effect has been reflected in increased mergers and acquisition (M & A)
activity impacting upon on a number of our member firms. Changes within the structure of member firms can also
have an impact upon our Association finances due to the current subscription formula being based upon individual
firm staff size. The availability of skilled resources and a talent gap is still a concern to industry and a constraint
to productivity in this country. This situation has not eased in recent years, and a shortage of technical staff is a
particular handicap to SME firms in meeting the demand for their engineering services. Despite a small reduction
in staff resources being shown within our membership this year, firm size is on average getting larger from both
internal growth and M & A restructuring for others.
11 – PROVIDERS

15. PEOPLE
ALWAYS IN PROGRESS
ACENZ INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT REPORT
12–PEOPLE

16. WOMEN IN ENGINEERING
The following table shows the gender ratio of Engineering and Architectural domestic students graduated from
local universities. The female students in engineering and related technologies remain below 25%, which is consist-
ent with the female student IPENZ membership as shown on page 14.
DOMESTIC STUDENTS GRADUATE FROM BACHELOR’S DEGREE & ABOVE 1
YEAR 2013 2012 2011
FIELD OF STUDY FEMALE MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE MALE
Engineering and Related Technologies 23.6% 76.4% 22.7% 77.3% 22.4% 77.6%
Architecture and Building 43.8% 56.2% 52.0% 48.0% 46.1% 53.9%
Various efforts have been made by tertiary educators towards boosting women intakes in engineering. Some of the
efforts include inviting secondary school girls to campus events which promote women in engineering, targeted
visits to all-girls schools, visits by female engineers in industry etc.2
Comparable Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Indicators:
“The distribution of students entering the science is quite uneven between men and women: only 14% of women choose
to enter into tertiary education in a science programme, in contrast with 39% of men. The difference does not seem to
be related to performance differences, as the PISA* 2012 data shows that, on average across 65 countries, there are no
significant differences between the performance of male and female students in sciences at 15 (OECD, 2013). On average,
boys and girls would complete upper secondary education equally prepared to study a bachelor’s degree in science-related
fields.” 3
*PISA: The Programme for International Student Assessment is a triennial international survey which aims to eval-
uate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. To date, students
representing more than 70 economies have participated in the assessment.
1 - Table source, Ministry of Education - Education Counts
2 - Tertiary Education Commission - ‘Growing the Pipeline of Work-Ready Engineering Graduates’
3 - Education Indicators in Focus - February 2014, OECD 2014
DISTRIBUTION OF VOCATIONAL GRADUATES BY GENDER IN OECD COUNTRIES
(OECD, 2012)
HEALTH & WELFARE
HUMANITIES, ARTS & EDUCATION
SOCIAL SCIENCES, BUSINESS & LAW
SERVICES
NOT KNOWN OR UNSPECIFIED
AGRICULTURE
SCIENCES
ENGINEERING, MANUFACTURING & CONSTRUCTION
MEN WOMEN 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
The trend that women are significantly under-represented in the science and engineering fields is a global issue
and not unique to New Zealand. Only about 18% of US engineering and mathematics (STEM) degrees are women,
meaning that firms are competing for a relatively small pool of candidates. 4
Gender equality has been virtually achieved in many fields of study, especially in social sciences and related
services but significant gender differences persist in engineering (male-dominated) and in health and welfare and
education (female-dominated). 5
4 - Engineering INC Jan/Feb 2015
5 - Education Indicators In Focus, OECD, Feb 2014
13 – PEOPLE

17. FEMALE GRADUATES
FEMALE GRADUATES FROM TERTIARY AND ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAMMES
OF ENGINEERING, MANUFACTURING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES
IN OECD COUNTRIES
(OECD, 2012)
Recognising the lack of gender diversity in our consulting engineering firms, IPENZ launched the Retention and
Renewal of Women in Engineering Programme in March 2011. A survey conducted by IPENZ - Snapshot 2013
(survey with 30 employers) and Snapshot 2014 (survey with 19 employers) showed women represent approxi-
mately 14% of the participating employers’ engineers in both years.
FEMALES OF IPENZ
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2014 2013 2012 2011 Baseline
Percentage of females in Professional, Chartered and Fellows memberships, although low, has shown marginal
increment from previous years.
‘Women exhibit a preference for certain specialisation within engineering – process, resources and manufacturing
being relatively popular compared to other specialisms where women represent less than 20 percent of enrollees.’ 1
GRADUATE - Graduates with an accredited or benchmarked tertiary qualification in engineering. TECHNICAL - Has demonstrated their competence for independ-
ent practice as an Engineering Technologist against the competence standard for Engineering Technologists. They will have typically completed a three-year degree
with strong “application” focus, usually in one engineering discipline. PROFESSIONAL - Has demonstrated their competence for independent practice against the
competence standard for professional engineers. They will have typically completed a four-year engineering degree. CHARTERED - An engineer who has been
assessed as being currently competent. FELLOWS - A measure of an individual’s contribution to the profession of IPENZ.
1 - Women in Engineering - Snapshot 2014, IPENZ
JAPAN
SWITZERLAND
NETHERLANDS
GERMANY
HUNGARY
IRELAND
UNITEDKINGDOM
FINLAND
UNITEDSTATES
CANADA
KOREA
CZECHREPUBLIC
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIA
BELGIUM
NORWAY
NEWZEALAND
SWEDEN
MEXICO
SLOVAKREPUBLIC
PORTUGAL
TURKEY
SPAIN
ICELAND
DENMARK
POLAND
GREECE
ITALY
STUDENT GRADUATE TECHNICAL PROFESSIONAL CHARTERED FELLOWS
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
14–PEOPLE

18. GENDER GAP FOR INCOME
According to the Remuneration Survey conducted by IPENZ in 2014 on 2,957 individuals, survey shows that there
is gender discrepancy in salary right from graduation.
• Graduate – females earn 5% less than males
• Professional Engineers – females earn 8% less than males
• Team Leader – females earn 13% less than males
• General Manager – females earn 18% less than males
The Gender Pay Gap is not unique to Consulting Engineering Business, but nationwide.
NEW ZEALAND GENDER PAY GAP
Median Hourly Wages, Full and Part Time (Statistics NZ & New Zealand Income Survey)
MEN WOMEN Linear (Gender Pay Gap) Gender Pay Gap
Since the late 1990s the gender pay gap has been steadily reducing (narrowing from 13% in 2008 to 9.9% in
2014). However, women still earn significantly less than men. Causes of the gender pay gap include occupational
segregation, unconscious bias in the workforce and lack of flexible work. These factors, and the hours women work
(one in three women work less than 30 hours per week) meant that in 2014 women earned $300 less per week
than men. 1
To put matters in perspective, New Zealand Gender Pay Gap is one of the lowest in OECD countries. First-world
countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are recording gender pay gap above 10%.
OECD GENDER WAGE GAP 2012
1 - Ministry for Women – gender pay gap
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
$25.00
$20.00
$15.00
$10.00
$5.00
0
KOREA
ESTONIA
JAPAN
ISRAEL
NETHERLANDS
TURKEY
UNITEDSTATES
CANADA
FINLAND
AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND
UNITEDKINGDOM
GERMANY
CHILE
SLOVAKREPUBLIC
SWEDEN
OECDAVERAGE
PORTUGAL
CZECHREPUBLIC
ICELAND
FRANCE
AUSTRALIA
SLOVENIA
HUNGARY
ITALY
SPAIN
GREECE
DENMARK
POLAND
LUXEMBOURG
NORWAY
NEWZEALAND
BELGIUM
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0
15 – PEOPLE

19. MILLENIALS IN NEW ZEALAND
In about 11 years, Gen Y (also known as the Millennials – people who were born from 1980 – 2000) will make up
almost 50% of New Zealand work force. The number of baby boomers retiring in the next five years is more than
the number of Gen X and Gen Y available to fill the gaps. Business will have to fight for talent. 1
Understanding their working habits and motivational drives are crucial in the recruitment and retaining talents
process as the quality of human resource management critically affects firm performance.
There’s no behavioural studies on the Gen Y in particular consulting engineering industry. The following studies are
pertaining to the Millennials in general.
YEAR 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026
Percent of workforce who are Millennials 26.9% 35.9% 45.3% 49.1% 49.5%
(Calculated by Prof. Charles Crothers, School of Social Sciences & Public Policy, AUT from Statistics New Zealand Labour Force Projections (base 2006))
Gen X talked of thinking outside the box, Gen Y doesn’t see a box at all!
GENERATION
TOTAL
PRE-SILENT
SILENT
GENERATION
BABY
BOOMER
GEN X GEN Y
Age at 2015 85+ 70-84 50-69 35-49 22-34
Number of respondents 283 622 1196 670 164 2935
Institution of occupation
Public Institution 31% 33% 31% 21% 17% 27%
Private Business 63% 56% 63% 72% 77% 66%
Private Non-Profit
Institution
6% 11% 6% 7% 6% 7%
Importance of work in life
Very Important 46% 45% 43% 36% 30% 41%
Rather Important 27% 38% 50% 56% 60% 47%
Not Very Important 13% 8% 6% 8% 8% 7%
Not At All Important 15% 9% 2% 1% 3% 4%
Active membership of labour
union
Not A Member 91% 87% 76% 82% 90% 82%
Inactive Member 8% 9% 13% 10% 7% 11%
Active Member 1% 4% 10% 8% 4% 8%
Active membership of profes-
sional organisation
Not A Member 75% 73% 62% 69% 74% 68%
Inactive Member 18% 13% 16% 13% 14% 15%
Active Member 7% 14% 22% 19% 12% 18%
Men should have more right to
a job than women
Agree 24% 15% 8% 4% 2% 10%
Disagree 31% 48% 57% 60% 62% 54%
Neither 45% 37% 35% 35% 36% 37%
Employer should give priority to
nationals than immigrants
Agree 57% 54% 48% 52% 52% 57%
Disagree 21% 24% 28% 25% 25% 19%
Neither 23% 22% 24% 23% 23% 24%
Older people should be forced
to retire
Agree 30% 24% 18% 18% 11% 20%
Disagree 36% 50% 57% 57% 62% 54%
Neither 34% 25% 24% 24% 26% 26%
First choice, if looking for a job
A Good Income 21% 26% 28% 37% 33% 29%
A Safe Job With No Risk 21% 21% 18% 14% 18% 18%
Working With People You
Like
12% 9% 11% 12% 16% 11%
Doing An Important Job 47% 44% 42$ 37% 33% 42%
The above, Analysis of 3 Waves of NZ Values, Survey data by Professor Charles Crothers (School of Social Sciences, AUT)
1 - www.nzherald.co.nz ‘Me-me-me generation will change employment practices’ 30 October 2014
16–PEOPLE

20. MILLENNIALS IN NEW ZEALAND
Compared to other generations, Gen Y rated the lowest for viewing their job as very important. Compared to
other generations, Gen Y showed the highest choice % in working for private businesses. Other generations rated
‘doing an important job’ higher than Gen Y. Compared to other generations, Gen Y showed the highest % for
‘Working with people you like’.
CHALLENGES FOR COMPANIES
TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN THE MILLENNIALS
Leaders in Innovation
• Businesses that most resonated with Millennials as leaders, Google and Apple top the list of businesses, each
selected by 11 percent of respondents. 1
• Use the branding of your organisation as an attraction and retention tool.
Giving back to society
• When looking at their career goals, today’s Millennials are just as interested in how a business develops its
people and how it contributes to society as they are in its products and profits. Millennials are the new genera-
tion of people that are leading a new wave of volunteerism.
• As a generation, millennials want to help and make a difference. According to the 2014 Millennial Impact Re-
port by Achieve, a company’s social consciousness might actually directly affect its quality of hires. The study
found 39% of millennials say a company’s volunteer policy affects their decision to apply, while 55% say it af-
fects their decision to ultimately take the job. If you give back, you’ll build strong roots in your local community
and be able attract and retain smart workers who want to spend time at a company with similar values. 2
• Green projects are seen as motivating and inspiring.
Redefining work/life balance (WLB)
• WLB was the key to recruit gen-X. In the world of Gen-Y, everything is integrated seamlessly facilitated by
technology. Hence, workplace is no longer just about a place to execute ‘work’, but creating experience for the
employees.
• WLB in the minds of Gen-Y is not restraint to the daily working hours, but more of time for personal life e.g.
overseas experience
“We have started giving staff iPads or devices to take home and use. It doesn’t have to be relat-
ed to university work. But what happens is interesting. There is a ‘silent coordination’ going on,
meaning I’m sending an email at 8pm and then somebody else responds to my email and then
I’ll reply again. So there is a silent coordination going on among employees. Even though they
don’t want to engage in email communication during their non-work hours, they see somebody
else replying at slightly odd hours. So you get into this ‘Everybody else is doing it, I’m doing it
too.” - Dr. Angsana Techatassanasoontorn, Auckland University of Technology 3
1 - The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2015
2 - www.marshable.com ‘6 secrets to Millennials’ Workplace Happiness’
3 - www.cio.co.nz - ‘Lessons on Millennials and Mobility’ August 2014
GEN Y’s VIEW - IMPORTANCE
OF WORK IN LIFE
GEN Y’s FIRST CHOICE IN
LOOKING FOR A JOB
GEN Y - INSTITUTION OF
OCCUPATION
30%
Very
Important
60%
Rather
Important
2%
Not At All
Important
8%
Not Very
Important
33%
A Good
Income
33%
Doing An
Important Job
18%
A Safe Job
With No
Risk
16%
Working
With People
You Like
17%
Public
Institution
77%
Private
Business
6%
Private Non-Profit
Organisation
17 – PEOPLE

21. “Despite seeming constantly distracted, his young staff still produce good work. And work
and personal life are more blurred, so they’ll answer work emails from home or when they’re
out and about. Maybe they would be super more productive if they didn’t do all that stuff,
but maybe they would be less creative.” - Rod Drury – founder of XERO 1
Reward system 2
• In the past, companies focused more on quantity than quality of work, although clients demanded standards
just as high then as the ones they do now. Bigger bonuses and promotions went to those who sacrificed more
of their personal lives. Now, HR policies primarily rewards quality and value to work and life needs of every
person.
BABY BOOMERS GEN X GEN Y
Defining Characteristics
Individuality Entrepreneurial Group Oriented
Loyalty Self-Reliant Idealistic
Career Oriented Globally Minded Socially Conscious
Comfortable with
Manual Work
Tend to Distance Themselves
From Workplace
Relational
Communication About Compensation Mostly Private Somewhat Private Somewhat Public
Career Mind-Set Focus on Retirement
Management Go-Getters
Work-Life Balance
Advancement
Flexibility (in Work Hours and Work
Arrangements)
Average Tenure 15+ Years 5+ Years 1.5-2+ Years
Retention Plan
Creating A Smooth
Plan for Retirement
Provide Leadership and Manage-
ment Roles
Opportunity for Career Progression
Incorporate Succession Plan Provide Fun, Casual and Friendly
Working Environment
Provide Meaningful Work Give Recognition (Encouragement
and Praises)
Compensation Structure Broad Banding
Willing to Accept Less Compensa-
tion to Balance Family Obligations
Expect to Have Career Path that
Moves Swiftly
Be Rewarded for Gaining new Knowl-
edge
Quick Movements Through Positions
1 - www.stuff.co.nz - ‘Demanding Narcissists or Misunderstood Modern Hippies’ June 2014
2 - PayScale ‘Compensation challenges for a multi-generational workforce’
18–PEOPLE

22. CHALLENGES FOR COMPANIES
TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN THE MILLENNIALS (CONT)
Reset your purpose
• Business should focus on people and purpose, not just products and profits in the 21st century according to
Deloitte’s fourth annual Millennial Survey released in Jan 2015.
• Millennials want to work for organisations with purpose. For 6 in 10 Millennials, a “sense of purpose,” is part of
the reason they chose to work for their current employers. Among Millennials who are relatively high users of
social networking tools (the “super-connected Millennials”), there appears to be even greater focus on busi-
ness purpose.
• The previous Generations know the purpose of the organisation and go along with it. The Millennials question
the purpose of the organisation and are prepare to leave the firm if that purpose does not align with their own
values.
Work priority
• The Boomers are more willing to make their work lives an exclusive priority. Gen X aim for work/life balance.
With the Millennials, even when offered the prospect of substantial future compensation, they want job flexi-
bility, along with opportunities for training and overseas exposure.
Foster a friendly and caring business culture
• Besides their over-reliance on IT gadgets, Millennials are relational. They value strong friendships with bosses
and co-workers.
• They appreciate team work and support the team activities.
SUMMARY
It is generally well known that New Zealand needs more engineers and technical staff. It is also noted that there are
significant benefits to increasing the number of women engineers within our industry in terms of diversity, compet-
itiveness, relevance and to be representative of the society it serves. A snapshot of the gender engineering scene in
New Zealand reveals the evident imbalances. Some of the causes are deep-rooted perceptions that require years
of influence and a culture change; some change could be progressively put in place with a positive and deliberate
effort from employers.
Millennials will rapidly prove to be a driving force within the consulting engineering industry and are likely to effect
a future culture change due to their different perceptions about the working environment. Employers will need
to prepare for the influx of this age group and manage multi-generational career needs within their firms. Young
professionals welcome and need mentoring from older and more experienced engineering colleagues, and firms
should encourage internal programmes to meet that requirement.
19 – PEOPLE

23. RESOURCES
ALWAYS IN PROGRESS
ACENZ INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT REPORT
20–RESOURCES

24. TERTIARY EDUCATION
The table below illustrates students which graduated from local universities with Bachelor’s Degrees and above
from the Faculty of Engineering and Related Technologies (including all disciplines) from 2007-13.
YEAR 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL
No. of Students 1510 340 1640 410 1710 430 1870 520 1830 540 2010 720 2100 770
TOTAL 1850 2050 2140 2390 2370 2730 2870
Percent 82% 18% 80% 20% 80% 20% 78% 22% 77% 23% 74% 26% 73% 27%
The table below illustrates students which graduated from local universities with Bachelor’s Degrees and above in
the Civil Engineering discipline from 2007-13.
YEAR 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL DOM INTL
No. of Students 320 50 330 70 390 40 500 100 450 70 510 130 490 110
TOTAL 370 400 430 600 520 640 600
Percent 86% 14% 83% 18% 91% 9% 83% 17% 87% 13% 80% 20% 82% 18%
Students graduated from the Civil Engineering discipline has increased from 370 in year 2007 to 600 in year 2013
with an average 18% of international students. However, the actual supply of new civil engineers (including struc-
tural, geotechnical, water, transport) entering the New Zealand labour market is unknown as some graduates may
seek employment in other non-engineering occupations or going overseas. The actual retention rate of interna-
tional students is unknown. A recent study done by the University of Auckland gives us an indication on where do
engineering students go after graduation.
MIGRATING GRADUATES
The below table is a social study done by Reuben Brown (Strategic Projects Manager from the University of Auck-
land) in February 2015. A preliminary analysis of the LinkedIn career achievements and behaviour of the Faculty of
Engineering’s 2008, 2010 and 2012 graduates. The 2008, 2010 and 2012 cohorts were chosen because they are
likely to be close enough to graduation to still remember their learning experiences whilst being far enough along
in their careers to have had job changes. The cohorts were assigned random numbers between 1 and 10. They
were then ranked highest to lowest and the top 200 (100) entries were searched for on LinkedIn. This approach
repeats the demographics of the Faculty of Engineering well, which are similar to that of the University of Auck-
land (Auckland, 2014) but with a slight under-representation of Maori/PI students and a gender imbalance.
The data shows that graduates have moved into relevant engineering jobs, stayed there and are gradually pro-
gressing into more senior technical or management positions. Once overseas students are removed from samples,
the retention rate of graduates in New Zealand is reasonably high (80-90%) and the majority of those who go
overseas are in Australia or the UK. Employer and sector data clearly shows that no particular company is respon-
sible for employing any large proportion of Faculty of Engineering graduates and the list of employers shows both
the expected large corporates and also a number of small low-profile companies.
GRADUATION YEAR 2008 2010 2012
U of A Engineering Graduates 776 703 722
Sample Size 49 98 52
No. Years in Workforce 7 Years 5 Years 3 Years
No. Jobs Since Graduation 2.2 2.3 1.6
Average Tenure (First Job) 4.1 3.5 2.7
Percent Still in New Zealand 49%* 76% 90%
Percent in Australia or UK 22% 20% 7%
Percent NZ PR/Citizens Still in NZ 83% 77% 89%
First Job was Engineering/Technical 88% 85% 90%
Current Job is Engineering/Technical 91% 83% 91%
Current Job is Senior/Management 14% 16% 8%
* number appears low due to many graduates out of the 49 students were from Malaysia and Indonesia
21 – RESOURCES

25. CURRENT JOB FIRST JOB
POST GRADUATION EMPLOYMENT
The below information was extracted from CareerNZ website, confirming the studies where up to 90% of gradu-
ates from Civil Engineering are still in New Zealand working or further studies. For Bachelor graduates in Archi-
tecture, only 51% are employed 2 years after graduation. Half of them opt for further studies. It could indicate that
there are not enough Architectural jobs for these new graduates.
SECTOR OF FIRST JOB
2008 2010 2012
After graduation around 90% of alumni were clearly employed in technical/engineering jobs or went on to post-
graduate studies at University of Auckland and elsewhere. The remaining 10% went into a variety of positions in
banking, government, management, self-employment. A number of these positions were related to their education
(Mathematics modelling, finance, etc.).
STATUS ONE YEAR AFTER GRADUATION
BACHELORS - ARCHITECTURE/URBAN
51% Employment Rate Two Years After
Study
STATUS ONE YEAR AFTER GRADUATION
BACHELORS - CIVIL ENGINEERING
70% Employment Rate Two Years After
Study
53%
In Further
Study
30%
In Further
Study
60%
Working In
New Zealand
10%
On
Benefit
41%
Working In
New Zealand
4%
Other
2%
On Benefit
CONSTRUCTION&
ENVIRONMENT
RESOURCES&
TRANSPORT
R&D/EDUCATION
ICT
MANUFACTURING&
PRODUCTION
PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES
CONSTRUCTION&
ENVIRONMENT
RESOURCES&
TRANSPORT
R&D/EDUCATION
ICT
MANUFACTURING&
PRODUCTION
PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
22–RESOURCES

26. PRODUCING WORK READY GRADUATES
As part of the ACENZ Personnel Survey, our members were asked to rate the work-readiness of local graduates.
Out of the 123 surveys, 92 firms rated the universities, but please note a lot of our members who are sole prac-
titioners opt not to answer these supplementary questions. The University of Canterbury and the University of
Auckland remain the top preference of our members in recruitment.
RATINGS OF 92 ACENZ MEMBERS ON LOCAL UNIVERSITIES
IN PRODUCING WORK READY ENGINEERING GRADUATES
MISSING SKILLS OF LOCAL GRADUATES HIGHLIGHTED BY ACENZ MEMBERS
COMMENTS FROM ACENZ MEMBERS ABOUT GRADUATE SKILLS
Application
• Students are lacking in real life engineering examples; the ability to observe and deduce the problems and to
develop practical solutions other than purely textbook theories.
• Appear to have a strong focus on teaching analysis skills but a lack of instruction in interpretation of the vari-
ous loading code sections.
• Lack of ability in connecting structural design with actual building practice.
• Lack of real-site skills.
Communication
• They need people skills and ability to work in a team.
EXCELLENT GOOD AVERAGE BELOW AVERAGE POOR
12
50
22
5 3
NONE
APPLICATION
REPORT&TECHNICAL
WRITING
COMMUNICATION
MISSINGKNOWLEDGE
COMMERCE
UNDERSTANDING
PRINCIPLES
HEALTH&SAFETY
SKETCHING&CAD
MARKETING
NUMERACY
25
20
15
10
5
0
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
23 – RESOURCES

27. Understanding Principles
• Students do not seem to grasp the principles being taught. Lecturers tell me that they teach the basic principles
but the graduates say they have no knowledge of being taught.
• Engineering principles rather than computer analyses and engineering science
• Better understanding load flow / paths so engineering judgement can be applied to any problem.
Missing Knowledge
• Three waters area, fire engineering, acoustics engineering, transportation engineering
• The structural course has been cut back from 10 or 20 years ago. Graduates require an extra year of tuition
to be more useful for us. We recognise that graduates do have other skills/knowledge that wasn’t previously
taught - but there are now big gaps in their technical knowledge (compared to earlier graduates) that require a
lot of on the job training that wasn’t previously required.
• Structural Engineering, to satisfy demand within NZ given the Earthquake strengthening work required over
at least the next 15 years or so.
• Irrigation science and engineering. This was a core part of the Agricultural Engineering degree offered by
Canterbury/Lincoln until the mid-eighties. Also dropped from Agricultural Science degrees at Massey and
Lincoln. When Government stopped promoting irrigation schemes as part of the mid-eighties restructure and
withdrawal of subsidies the Universities thought that irrigation development would practically cease and that
there would be no demand for irrigation engineering skills. The opposite has happened.
• Lack of understanding of Contract Law.
• Intro to the codes and standards applicable to mechanical engineering in NZ.
Commerce
• Commercial business skills; applying commercial sense in projects.
Health & Safety
• Need training in safety in the workplace (factories and construction sites), and safety considerations when
designing.
• Writing HAZOP and General Health and Safety.
Numeracy
• Mathematics should be to a high level (e.g. matrix and tensor analysis, solution of non-linear systems), Dynam-
ics.
• A focus on basic numeracy and literacy, the ability to check their own work.
ACENZ MEMBER’S FEEDBACK ON TERTIARY EDUCATION
“Need to ensure over-
seas students have a
better grasp of spoken
English.”
“Quality of writing
(grammar, spelling
and general structure)
is noticeably poor on
many of the scholar-
ship applications that
we receive, and not
only from students
where English is not
their first language.”
“Unable to write or for-
mat letters or present
information.”
“Our best CAD oper-
ators came through
NZ Diploma and then
on to direct entry to
University. This option
appears to be closed
with universities not
giving any credit for
Diploma level study.”
“The universities are
being presented with
students who are not
equipped for learning
in a tertiary institution.
Charter schools are a
must for NZ.”
“I am concerned that
NZ graduates are
behind UK/Ireland en-
gineers. Push the kids
harder, the degrees are
being watered down
too much.”
“Three years of addi-
tional practical training
needed to get a gradu-
ate up to speed.”
“Too many technical
tertiary providers,
needs consolidating
to ensure top quality
teaching staff and high
standard of graduates.”
“Need to partner with
businesses more.”
“Encourage students
to have some practical
experience within en-
gineering firms, while
doing their degree.”
“Not enough graduates
at all levels of degree
are graduating. Need
to attract more New
Zealanders to study
engineering.
“It would be great for
there to be more flex-
ibility for study while
working. For example,
evening classes or
courses that resources
are available on line so
attendance at lectures
is not required. This
would give our staff
the ability to work and
study at the same time
with less impact on
their ability to work
during business hours.”
“Student numbers
accepted for courses
should be tailored to
industry demands (ie
no demand, no course.”
“Too specialised,
multiple disciplines
leaving holes in overall
project designs. We
need broadly educated
traditional university
graduate engineers
capable of becoming
non specialist, general
practitioners in a non
city private practice.”
QUALITY
OF
GRADUATES
PARTNER
WITH
BUSINESSES
REVIEW
CURRICULUM
OTHEREDUCATION
PATH
ENGLISH &
WRITING
SKILLS
24–RESOURCES

28. OVERSEAS
The table below shows the numbers of engineers who have been granted visas (resident and work) since Jan 2014.
However occupation is only recorded in applications where it is a policy requirement. This means that the findings
will understate the number of engineers who enter the country through work and resident visas.
WORK VISAS BY OCCUPATION
Jan14-Jan15 (past 13 months)
ANZSCO OCCUPATION CENSUS 2013 RESIDENT & WORK
VISAS APPROVED
% OF PROFESSIONALS FROM OVERSEAS
COMPARED TO CENSUS 2013
233211 Civil Engineer 4,371 270 6%
233512 Mechanical Engineer 3,831 555 14%
233214 Structural Engineer 2,262 231 10%
233311 Electrical Engineer 2,052 165 8%
133211 Engineering Manager 1,923 90 5%
233999 Engineering Professionals NEC 1,656 257 16%
233511 Industrial Engineer 921 76 8%
233215 Transport Engineer 852 41 5%
233513 Production or Plant Engineer 696 86 12%
233212 Geotechnical Engineer 402 97 24%
233612 Petroleum Engineer 234 102 44%
233111 Chemical Engineer 192 22 11%
233915 Environmental Engineer 180 30 17%
233914 Engineering Technologist 174 25 14%
233112 Materials Engineer 132 18 14%
312999 Building and Engineering Technicians 2,469 41 2%
312312 Electrical Engineering Technician 1,587 95 6%
312212 Civil Engineering Technician 417 49 12%
312116 Surveying or Spatial Science Technician 342 22 6%
312511 Mechanical Engineering Draftsperson 201 41 20%
312211 Civil Engineering Draftsperson 135 53 39%
233213 Quantity Surveyor 2,022 281 14%
232212 Surveyor 1,707 52 3%
232111 Architect 3,930 37 1%
312111 Architectural Draftsperson 1,281 109 9%
232112 Landscape Architect 750 15 2%
312199 Architectural, Building & Surveying
Technician
It is noteworthy that OECD has recently praised New Zealand’s labour immigration policy and a review done in
June 2014 has concluded that our labour migration policy is working well. The OECD has noted that New Zealand
has a long-standing history of immigration and its labour migration flows are among the largest in the OECD. More
than one out of four persons in the workforce is foreign-born. 1
Immigration NZ has initiated the Canterbury Skills Shortage List in Nov 2012 and has approved more than 3,000
visas under this category, including other trade workers e.g. carpenter, painter, plasterer, bricklayer etc. The list
is being review regularly, approximately every 4 months. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
(MBIE), the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), the Ministry of Social Development and the
Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) have also initiated the Canterbury Skills & Employment Hub to meet the
anticipated high demand for labour as the wider Canterbury economy recovers.
Where there are no suitable or trainable New Zealanders available, the Hub will work with employers to help them
access migrant labour through a faster and more efficient immigration process.2
To date Immigration NZ has ap-
proved more than 4,000 work visa under Canterbury Skills & Employment Hub category including Aged/Disabled
Carer, Dairy Cattle Farm Worker, Chef, Metal Fabricator etc.
1 - Recruiting Immigrant Workers: New Zealand 2014 – published by OECD iLibrary
2 - From www.opportunitycanterbury.org.nz/about-us/
25 – RESOURCES

29. THE MISSING GAP
From ACENZ 2014 Business & Market Survey and ACENZ 2015 Personnel Survey, our members reported that
they have difficulties in filling a few positions.
The professions that are in great demand but are lacking in our tertiary curriculum and missing from New Zealand
ANZSCO database are:
Fire Engineer
• Master’s degree in Fire Engineering offered by University of Canterbury.
• There are on average about 10 Master’s degree graduates from the University of Canterbury per year 1
• The number of Fire Engineers in New Zealand is difficult to be determined as the job is not under New
Zealand ANZSCO database. However, there are 71 CPENG registration under this practice field. Also,
the New Zealand Chapters of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) has about 215 people on
its membership list which suggests that there might be this number of people who call themselves fire
engineers.
Acoustics Engineer
• Course not offered by local universities.
• University of Canterbury offers a few acoustics related subjects e.g. advanced vibrations and acoustics
within Mechanical Engineering
Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist
• Degrees/Diploma offered by various universities
• We have about 2,000 GIS Specialist in the country
Procurement Specialist
• There is no one specific degree/diploma that leads to this profession.
• General qualifications that can lead to this profession include commerce, finance, business, law, logistics,
supply chain management, warehousing, project management coupled with relevant experience
• The New Zealand Procurement Academy is now a major drive of procurement training and over the next
few years will help to address the procurement skills gaps by providing the public and private sector with
an increased pool of specialists.
1 - Number provided by Dr Michael Spearpoint, Associate Professor in Fire Engineering at the University of Canterbury
26–RESOURCES

30. SUMMARY
The need to recruit specific staff resources and a frequent lack of their availability is a common complaint amongst
our members. This situation is exacerbated in the regions where attracting and retaining appropriate staff is a huge
hurdle to their business performance. We continue to seek and gather defined data for constructive feedback
about gaps in our resources and channel this to the respective resource providers for their action.
The Tertiary Education Commission is actively leading the effort through increasing engineering graduates by an
additional 500 per year from 2017 onwards. Immigration and employment from overseas assists in addressing the
need for human resources though this does pose some risks. Firms report that employing an overseas engineer
who is unfamiliar with our specifications, standards and methodologies can tie up a local experienced engineer for
months in guidance and training needs. This can cause a net loss of productivity to the firm rather than a gain.
27 – RESOURCES

31. PRODUCT
ALWAYS IN PROGRESS
ACENZ INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT REPORT
28–PRODUCTS

32. BUILDINGS
New dwellings are self-contained permanent residences including houses, apartments, town-houses, granny flats,
and license to occupy retirement village units. Consents value for new buildings sometimes include the cost of
demolishing or removing previous buildings.
Comparing 12 months period, 9 of the 16 regions consented more new dwellings with the largest movements in:
• Canterbury – up 1354 dwellings
• Nelson – down 60 dwellings
• Auckland – up 1311 dwellings
• West Coast – down 32 dwellings
BUILDING CONSENTS OF NEW DWELLINGS BY REGION
(February 2014-January 2015 Growth or Decline vs February 2013-January 2014 Data)
VALUE OF NON RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS CONSENTED
The graph on the next page illustrates the non-residential buildings consented from February 2012-January 2015
that include new construction, alterations, and additions to industrial, commercial, and other non-residential
buildings (schools, hospitals, libraries, barracks, hostels, prisons, serviced apartments, workers’ quarters and other
accommodation buildings.)
The value of non-residential building work consented in January 2015 (1 month) was $351 million, with the high-
est in:
• Canterbury $130 million
• Auckland $88 million
• Waikato $32 million
The building types with the highest value of consent in all NZ in Jan 2015 (1 month) were:
• Offices and administrative buildings $86 million
• Social, cultural and religious buildings $59 million
• Storage buildings $48 million
PERCENT INCREASE OR DECREASE
IN NUMBER OF CONSENTS ISSUED
PERCENT INCREASE OR DECREASE
IN VALUE OF CONSENTS ISSUED
4%
21%
6% 20%
-16%
-8%19%
-6%
-4%-18%
-2%
-21%
23%
20%10%
13%
25%
11% 27%
-19%
-3%10%
1%
-8%-11%
13%
-14%
26%
17%17%
29 – PRODUCTS

33. VALUE OF NON RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS CONSENTED FROM 2012-2015
(in Millions)
FEB 2012 - JAN 2013 FEB 2013 - JAN 2014 FEB 2014 - JAN 2015
EARTHQUAKE RELATED BUILDING CONTENTS IN CANTERBURY
Since 4 September 2010, over $2.5 billion of Canterbury’s building consents have been identified as earth-quake
related.
Number of Consents Value of Consents ($Mill)
EARTHQUAKE RELATED TOTAL IN CANTERBURY PERCENT EARTHQUAKE
RELATED
Consents 2,962 20,839 14.2%
Value $2.5 Billion $11.8 Billion 21.1%
OFFICES&ADMIN
BUILDINGS
SHOPS,RESTAURANTS
&TAVERNS
EDUCATIONBUILDINGS
FACTORIES&INDUSTRIAL
BUILDINGS
STORAGEBUILDINGS
SOCIAL,CULTURAL&
RELIGIOUSBUILDINGS
HOSPITALS&
NURSINGHOMES
FARMBUILDINGS
HOTELS&OTHERSHORT-
TERMACCOMMODATION
HOSTELS&
BOARDINGHOUSES
MISCELLANEOUS
BUILDINGS
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2010-09
2010-11
2011-01
2011-03
2011-05
2011-07
2011-09
2011-11
2012-01
2012-03
2012-05
2012-07
2012-09
2012-11
2013-01
2013-03
2013-05
2013-07
2013-09
2013-11
2014-01
2014-03
2014-05
2014-07
2014-09
2014-11
2015-01
Earth-quake Building Consents in Canterbury
Number of Consents Value of Consents ($m)
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2010-09
2010-11
2011-01
2011-03
2011-05
2011-07
2011-09
2011-11
2012-01
2012-03
2012-05
2012-07
2012-09
2012-11
2013-01
2013-03
2012-05
2012-07
2012-09
2012-11
2013-01
2013-03
2013-05
2013-07
2013-09
2013-11
2014-01
2014-03
2014-05
2014-07
2014-09
2014-11
2015-01
30–PRODUCTS

34. CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE
Extract from the second National Construction Pipeline report by Pacifecon in October 2014
Auckland
• Auckland continues to show the highest level of construction activity, accounting for over a third of the for-
ward workload by value.
• The rapid rate of growth in Auckland is driven by residential building, rather than government projects.
• Residential construction in Auckland region is forecast to more than double in value between 2012 and 2017.
Christchurch
• The Canterbury rebuild is forecast with construction activity due to reach its highest level in 2015.
• In Christchurch, public works are driving construction growth including agencies like Canterbury Earthquake
Recovery Authority (>$1b), Christchurch City Council ($650m), Lyttleton Port Company (>$1b), MOE (>$1b),
MOH with CDHM (>$650m), NZTA (>$700m), Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team – Hori-
zontal infrastructure repairs (>$2.5b), University of Canterbury (>$800m).
• Government-funded construction activity appears to have a positive spin-off on non-earthquake related,
non-residential construction which is also growing.
Notable trends
• A rise in the construction of retirement villages is boosting activity throughout the country, particularly in
Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Canterbury.
• There is also a pronounced increase in higher density housing (multi-units) and a decline in detached hous-
ing in all regions (after 2016). In Auckland multi-units, including retirement villages, are forecast to overtake
detached houses in new builds by 2018.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Extract from the National State of Infrastructure Report 2013
Following extensive discussion with stakeholders, analysis of the latest international infrastructure plans, and
discussions with Ministers and the National Infrastructure Advisory Board, the NIU has identified five key expecta-
tions that the next iteration of the Plan, due in 2015, needs to deliver on:
• Reinforce the current strategic direction (the vision and outcomes)
• Mature the debate around future needs and responses
• Be a collective infrastructure plan by NZ Inc across the private sector, central and local government
• Have increased specificity about the action plan and future investment programme required to achieve the
strategic direction
• Be underpinned by a more robust evidence base of future need and current performance
The two facets of the work programme are focussed on meeting these expectations, recognising a key purpose of
the Plan is to improve investment certainty for businesses by increasing confidence in current and future infra-
structure provision.
THE PLAN JOURNEY
2009 National Infrastructure Unit and National Infrastructure Advisory Board established.
2010 First National Infrastructure Plan released, providing the context and a snapshot of what infrastructure
we have, settings, roles and responsibilities, immediate infrastructure priorities and a sound set of princi
ples to consider for future investment.
2011 Second National Infrastructure Plan released, setting out a strategic vision and direction, the two key
outcomes and the guiding principles that inform our advice and thinking. This Plan also included a
multi-year work programme that we are part way through delivering.
2012-3 Delivery of the multi-year work programme based on a ‘Pressure-State-Response’ Model. The first phase
of the work-programme has been focused on building the evidence base around the ‘Pressure’ and the
‘State’ questions. Plan work streams that contribute to building this evidence base are the Performance in
dictators (State); Trends and scenario modelling (Pressure); Resilience (Pressure and State); Demand
management (Response), and the delivery of the first ten-year Capital Intentions Plan (Response).
These work streams will come together in early 2014 in the first collated evidence base and the initial
story it depicts.
31 – PRODUCTS

35. 2014 Using the collated evidence base and initial story as a base for more in-depth discussions to both refine
the story and develop an agreed and prioritised ‘Response’ (action plan). Focussing on the ‘Response’,
2014 will also complete the multi-year work programme including the Alternative funding work stream.
2014 This stage of the Plan journey will culminate in capturing the refined story and prioritised response into a
New Zealand National Infrastructure Plan.
The 2015 New Zealand Infrastructure Forum is being held on the 31 March 2015 and an updated plan will be
released later in the year.
SECTOR SNAPSHOTS
Sector Overview of current status
Transport The significant investment programme in transport continues, along with increasing coordination
and a developing evidence base to underpin discussions. Balancing supply side interventions with
work to optimise the existing network, and ensuring the sustainability of the funding system, are
key to meeting future challenges.
Telecommunications The 700MHz spectrum has been prepared for auction and discussion documents
for the two telecommunications reviews have been released. Continuing to ensure that the UFB
and RBI network deployment programmes are on track remains a focus.
Energy The energy sector is looking well placed to meet future demand with a positive outlook on gas
supply, a medium term projection of low growth in electricity demand, a strengthened transmis
sion grid, and a number of consented generation projects ready to be built when required.
Rural Water The next stage of the freshwater reforms has been announced, laying the foundations for
consideration of allocation issues that impact on the certainty required for continued investment.
In the paddocks, there has been a sustained increase in irrigation and most significantly, using
methods that are more efficient and better utilise the water resource.
Urban Water The Better Local Government work programme has continued to progress, including a large
number of initiatives to improve the range and quality of information available to communities.
Local authority planning processes will be streamlined and the sector is starting to focus on
increased capability.
Social The Social infrastructure sector has come a long way, especially in areas of asset management,
capital planning, procurement and the allocation of capital. There are further opportunities for
the pace and scale of improvement to be stepped up, including more fundamental questions of
how best to utilise the whole balance sheet and consider questions of ownership.
Auckland Good progress has been made on implementing the Auckland Plan and the development of the
proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. Announcements have been made on housing and the
next generation of transport projects, but work remains on funding these and ensuring
integration of land use and transport, as well as the most effective utilisation of existing and the
provision of new infrastructure.
Christchurch The focus has shifted from recovery to rebuild with the central city cordons down and plans well
underway for the rebuild. With the horizontal infrastructure programme proceeding at pace,
there is a real need to ensure a well-integrated and sequenced construction programme of work.
32–PRODUCTS

36. 3 WATERS FORECAST (10 YR SPEND)
WATER STORMWATER SEWAGE
NATIONAL LAND TRANSPORT
Funding ranges 2015/16 to 2024/25 (Local Authorities provide additional funding as a local share to these activity classes)
FUNDING RANGES ($M) FORECAST FUNDING RANGES ($M)
2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
State Highway Improvements 1,200 1,250 1,300 1,325 1,375 1,425 1,450 1,550 1,625 1,675
State Highway Maintenance 515 528 538 548 560 573 585 598 613 625
Local Road Improvements 190 197.5 205 210 217.5 230 237.5 247.5 255 265
Local Road maintenance 485 495 505 515 525 537.5 545 560 570 582.5
Public Transport 332.5 347.5 360 375 382.5 392.5 402.5 415 430 445
Walking & Cycling Improvements 24 24.5 26 26.5 27.5 28.5 29.5 30 31.5 32.5
Regional Improvements 70 75 80 80 80 85 85 85 85 85
Road Safety Promotion 33.5 34.5 34.5 36 36 36.5 37.5 38 38.5 38.5
Investment Management 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 64.5
Road Policing 300 305 310 317.5 322.5 327.5 335 340 347.5 350
Expenditure Target 3,400 3,500 3,600 3,700 3,800 3,900 4,000 4,150 4,250 4,400
SUMMARY
There is much publicity about the huge housing demands caused by population growth in Auckland and its sur-
rounds, and resulting from the Canterbury earthquakes. However, this demand does not have a sizeable impact
upon the workload of consulting engineers as most do not provide services in the domestic construction arena.
Geotechnical and planning services at the property subdivision and development stage is often the only involve-
ment of our members for the domestic product. An increase in new construction of commercial property does
place some demand upon the services of our consulting firms. There is an escalation in activity for office structures,
the retail/entertainment sector and education facilities planned for in 2015; much of this additional work can be
attributed to Christchurch. Most other commercial structure types will be at similar levels to the previous year.
The main business and product of our consulting engineers is infrastructure - both national, such as highways,
dams, energy, and also in providing local requirements like water, waste, roading and public facilities. After a posi-
tive injection of increased investment in highways by the government, that helped prevent a major recession in the
construction industry a few years ago, the transport sector infrastructure spend will likely only show modest in-
creases over the years ahead until the mid-twenties. We do not see any immediate and significant new work in the
energy sector which is currently and foreseeably a fairly quiet market. A combination of changes to standards and
potential RMA amendments has helped contribute to a forecast increase of council investment into the three wa-
ters (potable, waste, storm-water networks). There is also potential for some sizeable regional irrigation schemes.
However, in general local body expenditure on maintenance and renewals of existing infrastructure and developing
new infrastructure has been very restrained over recent years. This can in part be attributed to a drop in revenue
from property development contributions that came about from a law change. However, some lack of spending on
infrastructure, particularly storm water and other underground networks, can also be due to a culture of ‘if you
can’t see it – she’ll be right’!
$Mill
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
AUCKLAND 10 YR SPEND REST OF NZ 10 YR SPEND
33 – PRODUCTS

37. OUR BUSINESS
ALWAYS IN PROGRESS
ACENZ INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT REPORT
34–SNAPSHOT

38. OUR BUSINESS
How can ACENZ achieve best progress in developing leadership in engineering? Our Members’ perspectives:
ADVOCACY
• Raise our communication with politicians. Provide information to government showing the obstacles and con-
straints that limit innovation.
• Maintain support and advocacy for the entire Consulting Engineering industry across all company sizes.
• Take a leadership role in issues that are important to the New Zealand public.
EDUCATION
• Promote the need for skilled and experienced engineers in local authorities, government and corporate gov-
ernance roles. Encourage a focus on the value of engineering within the community and wider society.
• Work with the tertiary institutions (both university and technical college) to provide flexible training that ena-
bles people to work full time and study part time. This could be for all aspects, engineering and draughting.
• Encourage better ‘real world’ education and practical knowledge transfer at university and less theoretical
“academic” research that can be non-relevant to roles after graduation.
ENCOURAGE LEADERSHIP
• Use young engineers groups to network and encourage leadership principles and versatility in business.
• Place an emphasis on mentoring opportunities from older and experienced engineers.
• Formulate a development plan for younger staff to instil enthusiasm and related goals in their career path, and
highlight the rewards of personal development, leadership and business values.
LEADING
• Engineering needs a strong voice and a leadership role in the wider industry. ACENZ is best place to take a
lead in that undertaking.
• Take a lead on the big issues of our times, as noted above. Espouse the position that if engineering is to be of
service to humanity, it must actively protect and repair the environment.
NETWORKING
• More local forums, breakfasts/roadshows etc., with opportunity for very open discussion between firms.
• Continued emphasis in the development of young engineers for business networking, presentations.
TRAINING
• Relevant courses, scholarships for those in paid employment for specialist training/overseas exposure.
• Hold 3 monthly workshops. Become actively involved and speak publicly on issues of concern to engineers and
the public.
• Provide more leadership seminars for members to attend and more courses in personal development.
WORKING WITH MEMBERS
• Keep on responding to members requests, and anticipating politicians’ quirks.
• Assisting member firms in their business & marketing aspects and being non-aligned with IPENZ.
OTHER
• Recognising the contribution of smaller companies and non-corporates. The people in these firms have to
operate outside well established systems and make independent decisions.
• Profile some leaders in newsletter pointing out the voluntary work (standards committees, IPENZ, ACENZ,
FutureIntech, School trustee) that have had that contributed to their experience/success. Then ask for volun-
teers to join with senior engineers on ACENZ work groups.
How can ACENZ best service the interest of young professionals? Our Members’ perspectives:
NETWORKING ACTIVITIES
• By ensuring that ACENZ Members look after their young Professionals, and get them engaged with ACENZ.
• Keep up the functions and encouragement for young professionals but from a provincial practice perspective it
would be great to have a bit more extension into the country than just Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
• Technical forums where they can collaborate and share experience.
CONNECT
• Separate forums for young professionals, open dialogue with a few seniors present to assist discussion.
• Grow your presence on social media channels such as LinkedIn so that you can engage young professionals in
an informal and regular way. Share relevant content on your page and host groups to create networks where
young engineers can connect, share and learn from others.
• By keeping in touch through social media.
35 – SNAPSHOT

39. CONFERENCE
• Try to attract young engineers from smaller firms to conferences.
• Reduced conference fee. Young professional winner giving a lecture (or webinar) after their FIDIC training,
aimed at other young ACENZ professional.
DEVELOPMENT
• Encourage the rounded development of engineers.
• Provide relevant courses to enable them to keep developing.
INFORMATION SHARING
• Newsletters, ongoing support, social media groups.
MENTORSHIP
• Set up mentoring partners, provide seminars about the ‘art’ of consulting led by experienced consultants,
arrange networking ‘gatherings’ for like-minded people, create opportunities for YP to be involved in ACENZ
activities.
• With more mentoring and practical experience to offset the increasing focus on theory in university courses.
Engineering is what matters.
• For graduates working in smaller practices providing some kind of mentoring scheme with other senior
engineers outside their work places so they can obtain the work experience necessary to become chartered/
registered.
OTHER
• Not focusing everything at people working in corporate companies, work with young engineers to ensure that
when the mature engineers retire that the industry isn’t left with massive holes.
• Demonstrations of practical examples of engineering practice - CPD programmes that are actually relevant to
current engineering activity.
SUMMARY
Feedback from our members is the best guide to our performance. Each year the Association President and CEO
travel around the regions on a ‘Roadshow’ to provide members with an update about what is happening in the
industry and within the business and public sectors. In turn the members get an opportunity to talk about their
expectations, local issues, and express their views about ACENZ activities and priorities. We get a large amount of
support from our members and they seem overall to be well satisfied with ACENZ performance. It is interesting to
note that for our SME firm’s one of the greatest membership benefits is considered to be our Practice Notes and
commercial guidance; for the large firms the main benefit is strong advocacy and our business and political rela-
tionships.
In reviewing the input from members in the above section it can be seen that there are very few new items of work
being asked of ACENZ. The emphasis appears to be about continuing to do what we are doing well and do more of
it. With only two full-time staff and a CEO the Association relies heavily upon voluntary work from our board and
area representatives, and also from our members. This contribution of time and experience is readily and freely
given. Because of that effort and expertise ACENZ has become an industry leader and a recognised ‘Trusted Advi-
sor’ that promotes a focus on outcomes that benefit both industry well-being and the national good.
REFERENCESIPENZ - Women in Engineering 2014 and 2013
University of Auckland – Faculty of Engineering “A preliminary analysis of the LinkedIn career achievements and behaviour of the Faculty of Engineering’s 2008,
2010 and 2012 graduates” by Reuben Brown – February 2015
Auckland University of Technology – School of Social Sciences “Analysis of 3 waves of NZ Values Survey data” by Prof. Charles Crothers – 2015
Second National Construction Pipeline report by Pacifecon in October 2014
Education Counts – ‘Field-of-Specialisation-for-Students-Gaining-Qualifications’
Department of Statistics – ‘Census 2013 by Topics’
Department of Statistics – ‘BuildingConsentsIssuedJan15HOTP’ in January 2015
OECD – ‘OECD.StatExtracts’
New Zealand Immigration Statistics – ‘R4 - Occupation and region for SMC/General Skills principal applicants’ updated as at January2015
New Zealand Immigration Statistics – ‘W3 - Work applications approved by occupation’ updated as at January 2015
PwC ‘Engineering Growth – Fourth quarter 2014 engineering & construction industry mergers and acquisitions analysis’ - http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/industri-
al-products/publications/assets/pwc-engineering-industry-mergers-acquisitions-q4-2014.pdf
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment – ‘Medium-long term Employment Outlook – Looking ahead to 2023’
Tertiary Education Commission – ‘Growing the pipeline of work-ready engineering graduates’
The Treasury (National Infrastructure Unit) – ‘National State of Infrastructure Report’ 2013
Government Policy Statement On Land Transport 2015/16 – 2024/25 – December 2014
Some photographic artwork used original photographs, that were sourced from Flickr and altered under the Creative Commons User Licence. Original photos
courtesy of: BMiz and Sebastiaan ter Burg.
36–SNAPSHOT

40. The Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand Inc
Level 8, 276 Lambton Quay, PO Box 10247, Wellington 6143
www.acenz.org.nz