The district's construction, irrigation, transport, hospitality and agriculture industries were all on track for strong growth over the next five years, a recent labour market survey found.
However, all 28 businesses surveyed said they were concerned about their ability to recruit skilled workers.
The report was done for the Central Otago Labour Market Governance Group, with the Ministry of Social Development providing $40,000 funding.
The survey followed a similar report devoted to the area's horticulture and viticulture industries, which said an acute shortage of suitable accommodation for seasonal workers would stop those industries from growing in the next five years.
A Central Otago market plan was being developed by the ministry to address the issues highlighted in the surveys, group chairman John Lane, of Roxburgh, said.
All industries were optimistic about the future and addressing issues to do with growth ''is definitely a great problem to have'', he said.
''The market plan is very much our plan of attack now we've got all the background information sorted.
''To get to this point, people on the governance group have been working in very much a voluntary role but to implement the labour market plan, to ensure that happens, we'll need someone to oversee it, even in a part-time or short-term capacity.
"We'll need to take a serious look at what funding is available for that and we've put out some tentative probes in that area,'' Mr Lane said.
Most of the issues were common to all sectors - a lack of skilled staff, a lack of workers and a lack of rental accommodation.
The surveys were carried out by Martin Anderson, of Cromwell, and Tara Druce, of Alexandra.
Mr Anderson and Ms Druce said said critical skill shortages highlighted in the document would be accentuated by the increasing demand for workers in the next five years.
Businesses had high rates of staff loyalty and retention and all recognised the importance of investing in training.
The survey authors recommended the governance group carry out a project to identify the scale of the skill shortages in each of the five industries.
One irrigation firm estimated Central Otago now had about 1000 irrigation centre pivots installed and the proposed Manuherikia irrigation scheme would boost growth significantly.
Irrigation firms already had difficulty finding designers and project managers.
''One firm said that for the last position they advertised they got 50 applicants and struggled to identify three that they could interview, '' the report said.
''Another firm said they had a shortage of electricians to be able to handle breakdowns. They recently spent over $4000 advertising for an electrician, without success.''
The surveys covered the area's labour needs now and in five years, recruitment and retention, predictability of labour, upskilling, productivity and demand for accommodation.
