{"id":6178,"date":"2020-04-23T13:11:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T13:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=6178"},"modified":"2020-04-23T13:11:14","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T13:11:14","slug":"hundreds-of-thousands-of-trades-jobs-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/04\/23\/hundreds-of-thousands-of-trades-jobs-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TRADES JOBS AT RISK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk with a massive drop in homebuilding activity projected to hit the housing industry due to the impact of COVID-19.
\nHousing construction has been spared from lockdown measures but current projects are winding up, and new work is drying up.
\nAccording to a\u00a0survey by the Master Builders Association<\/a>, 73 per cent of residential construction businesses reported a substantial fall in forward work, with 40 per cent being lost on average.
\nThe projected number of annual new builds has also\u00a0dropped significantly<\/a>\u00a0from over 160,000 to 100,000.
\nRight now,\u00a0there is a risk that as Australia goes back to work, tradespeople will run out of work.
\nThis is about people and their ability to pay their bills and look after their families.
\nIn times of economic shock, housing construction has played a vital role in national economic recovery.
\nThe Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that for every $1 invested in new housing construction, $3 of activity is created for the broader economy.
\nThe Government and National Cabinet urgently needs to develop a plan with the housing industry to make sure hundreds of thousands of tradespeople don\u2019t lose their job.
\nThis could include:<\/p>\n