There’s no doubting Brisbane has been the butt of southern jokes for a while now. For a city that would otherwise be known for its laidback culture and sunshine, Brisbane still carries the reputation of being a stereotypical boring ex-country town.
This is finally starting to change.
Much like Sydney and Melbourne were 20 years ago, Brisbane is in the middle of a major shift and quickly becoming a world-class city. Over the past few years the city has moved away from an economy reliant only on mining, and begun developing its own niche industries, innovation and infrastructure hubs, winning a number of significant tenders (not even including the 2032 Olympics!).
There is no denying that Brisbane is in the middle of a huge re-brand, transitioning from Brisvegas into a ‘new world city’. Recently, we also wrote about why Brisbane was the millennial-destination with record inter-state migrations, dubbed as the Great Millenial Migration.
To be frank, the opportunities to live and work here are becoming more abundant. We enjoy almost year-round sunshine, lower house prices than other major cities and a high degree of connectivity to South East Asia, opening the doors for future investment.
Recently I reached out to my network to ask what their favourite thing is about living and working in Brisbane. From the responses I received, it’s clear that the region’s friendly and laidback feel, increasing connectivity, friendly people and fantastic weather are the real stand-out points.
Our office has put together a short summary of why Brisbane is Australia’s next up-and-coming location:
The Projects
The Queensland Government has allocated $3.5 billion for rail projects in its 2022-23 Budget, as the state’s population booms.
Transport and Main Roads Minister, Mark Bailey, said the $3.5 billion rail investment will transform transport, drive Queensland’s future growth and support jobs. Some of the Pipeline projects include:
- Cross River Rail – $5.4bn
- North Coast line upgrate between Townsville & Rockhampton – $100m
- Brisbane to Sunshine Coast (Beerwah to Maroochydoore) rail extension project – $1.6b
- Brisbane Metro – $150m
- Brisbane to Gold Coast Faster Rail Upgrade project (Kuraby – Beenleigh) – $2.6b
- Queensland Train Manufacturing Program which forms part of $7.1 billion to boost the state’s train manufacturing industry and build and operate 65 trains – $600m
In addition, the Inland Rail is a more than 1700km rial line which, which Queensland is set to be the largest beneficiary from, with 11,800 jobs created from construction and $7.8b boost in Queensland Gross State product.
The Roles
We are working closely with a number of Australia’s largest design consultancies, offering opportunities for engineers of all levels. We would particularly be keen to hear expressions of interest from:
- Design Managers – Rail/civil
- Project Managers
- Project/Design Delivery Specialists
- Rail Design/Civil Engineers – All levels
- Senior Civil Designers
- Civil Supervisors
- Senior Civil Engineers
- Senior Electrical Engineers
- Project Administrators
- Quality Managers
- HSE Advisors
With a $155 billion pipeline of work over the next 15 years, qualified rail engineers are in high demand. Engineers Australia recently released their newest incentive to address the critical skills needed within this booming industry. Rail micro-credentials are now available for engineers to complete in as little time as a few weeks, measured against the Rail Track Specialisation Standard of Practice. If you are in the rail sector and looking to supersede or upgrade your CV to position yourself within the market, check out Engineers Australia’s Rail micro-credentials.
If you would like to know more about the projects and the opportunities in Brisbane, or how you could fit it with these, contact our Divisional Manager – Engineering and Consutrction, Richard Christer at richard @peopleconnexion.com or connect with him on LinkedIn today!