How to become a civil engineering labourer
Official title: Civil engineering labourers
Also called: Construction labourer (civil engineering), Earthmoving labourer, Maintenance labourer (dams)
Civil engineering labourers perform routine tasks in connection with the building and maintenance of roads, railways, dams and other civil engineering projects.
Main tasks
- Digging and filling holes and trenches using hand-held tools
- Shovelling and spreading gravel and related materials
- Trimming and cutting rocks and concrete and bitumen surfaces using jack-hammers
- Loading and unloading construction materials, excavated material and equipment and transporting them around construction sites using wheelbarrows and hand trucks
- Cleaning work sites and removing obstructions
Ways in
- Licence or registration: Registering body: Construction Industry Council. Law: Construction Workers Registration Ordinance (建造業工人註冊條例), Cap. 583. Summary by Peernovo; check the body's current rules.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$14,400 a month
- About 337,600 people in 2025, and about 334,700 projected by 2028. (-0.8%)
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Related jobs
Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz
Questions people ask
Do you need a degree to become a civil engineering labourer?
Usually not. Only 2% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Will AI change the work of a civil engineering labourer?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (Annual Earnings and Hours Survey): Monthly and hourly wage percentiles by occupational group (5 groups) (Tables 220-23014, 220-23024, 220-23003) (2025 (May to June 2025), released 2026-03-23), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026