That's a conservative estimate of the number of positions the construction industry is expected to need if certain major projects are to be completed, industry research expert Alex Spillett said.

The figure could be as high as 2800 in 2024, rising to more than 4200 by 2029 in the construction industry alone.

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Construction would be the main driver in what Regional Development Australia has identified as $33 billion worth of major projects in the pipeline, RDA Illawarra policy manager Alex Spillett said.

These would include Squadron Energy's Port Kembla gas terminal, the new Shellharbour hospital, WIN Grand, the realignment of BlueScope's production facilities and reline of the steelmaker's No.6 blast furnace, housing development at the Corrimal Cokeworks site, and the potential for an east coast base for Australia's planned nuclear submarine fleet.

"We're talking about anything from civil earth works through to fit-out through to electricians, everybody involved in the construction of infrastructure or buildings major projects," Mr Spillett said.

"They are trade skills but they're also project management skills."

The sight of many construction jobs appearing to import most of their varied subcontracting workforce from southwest Sydney would continue to be a familiar one if the Illawarra can not generate the required skills - by training or migration.

"I think it's really more a question of we've got more projects than we have workers to fulfil them," Mr Spillett said.

"I think for day-to-day needs, we can probably scrape by. But with $33 billion worth of major ... projects in the pipeline over the next 20 years, the research that we've done shows that we're going to need more than 2000 additional workers by the start of next year.

"There are multiple answers to the, to the conundrum of where, where we get more workers from.

"Certainly migration, whether it's from overseas or, or internal migration from, from other areas in Australia or NSW is one solution, but certainly training people and attracting them into trade roles, and getting more participation from women in the workforce would also be equally welcome.

"The Illawarra isn't unique in this ... we're competing with other areas and as a result, we have to import people from other regions to fulfil our needs. It's really quite a different perspective than the one that we've been used to hearing [about high unemployment in Wollongong]."

RDA is this week launching a two-year skills survey project to gather up-to-date and Illawarra-specific information about what jobs are needed.

Employers will be asked what job skills are needed half-yearly, so the results can be updated to provide relevant data on an ongoing basis.

"Unfortunately, much of the skills and occupation data we see is either insufficiently granular or infrequent to be of use for targeted intervention - and this research aims to address that," Mr Spillett said.

"And it is also published a little late in time. So we're trying to overcome both those issues by trying to provide detailed current information."

As well as good data about the skill sets needed, training would be vital in the coming years - as would turning the traditional conception of Wollongong as a high-unemployment city on its head.

Mr Spillett said the skills supply had not been helped in recent years by significant drops in the number of people completing TAFE courses in the Illawarra and southeast NSW - a 27 per cent fall since 2013, RDA said.

"it's a significant decline over the past decade and that's one of the reasons we're where we are now," Mr Spillett said.

"Training [is] very important, and certainly the research that we've done initially on this subject in talking to some of the major employers and peak bodies around the Illawarra has indicated that they certainly want to have a workforce that's got at least a basic level of training.

"And if they're moving into a heavy industry, then certainly the level of training needs to be quite detailed and quite consistent."