Will off site manufacture destroy employment in the construction industry?

Recent years have seen a rapid rise in the percentage of offsite manufacturing of elements and components for building construction projects. The potential benefits of offsite construction are well known and have been demonstrated in a wide variety of project types. There has been some speculation that the result of this change might be a loss of onsite jobs and a net transfer of construction work to lower wage economies overseas. As is often the case, a realistic picture of the results of structural change is more nuanced. There may be winners and losers in this story. Several Australian construction enterprises are already embracing the possibility of new modes ofoperation which can carve out a viable slice of the project delivery market in the face of new global competitors. The aim of this paper is to report on two case studies of companies who are achieving growth while delivering quality outcomes in an increasingly disruptive industry context. It would seem that there is potential for future competitive locally based companies who can compete successfully in the global construction context.