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Tens of thousands of trades people, semi-skilled workers and labourers can expect to find employment and jobs in Perth and in Western Australia's resources
industry over the next decade, according to an independent study. The
need for workers also helps bring in young travellers who will work part-time in casual / temporary jobs and backpacker jobs in Perth.
The mining and resources industry is not the only pressure on the Perth and
WA work force. To support the migration of workers heading to WA from other states and overseas, the WA government and big business has undertaken about $200 billion worth of infrastructure and construction projects. These projects will also need to be fed with skilled and
unskilled workers. This will mean that as employment ramps up, Perth and Western Australia’s job market will tighten and companies small and large will have trouble in filling jobs in Perth, including mine jobs, retail jobs and construction jobs.
Perth employment and WA's job outlook
A
study by the National Institute of Labour Studies shows that many of
the jobs to be created in mining projects until 2020, will not require
specialist skills: so mining jobs no experience will account for a significant amount of the 38,000 new jobs that would open up for unskilled and semi-skilled workers.
In the past as one area of employment has come under pressure, it has had a knock on affect in other areas. This recently happened with restaurants having issues filling vacancies as many kitchen staff abandoned jobs in Perth and took mine jobs as fly in fly out (FIFO) workers. This is likely to be repeated again as the Perth job market picks up.
Employers,
who stopped recruiting permanent staff last year with the anticipated
GFC, are now finding themselves under resourced and having to pay more
for staff, with less to choose from.
Mining jobs in WA have increased for geologists, who are in high demand and experienced mining engineers are still a problem to find. The Gorgon gas project has also drawn workers from other mining and construction projects in WA, exacerbating the looming labour shortages.
One aspect not always realised is that the resources, mining and residential construction boom also creates a critical shortage of accountants and accounting jobs in Perth. The Perth and WA accounting profession is already highlighting this shortage and often leads to a shortage of banking & finance staff.
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Learning from our past employment mistakes
In the past, people on 457 visas were among the first to lose their jobs when the market slowed in 2008, but now that employers have started hiring again the Australian job market is void of these people and there will be a shortage of the right skills. It is anticipated that recruiting employees from overseas again on 457 visas will increase.
The influx of workers from other states and overseas also puts a pressure on housing and can push up prices, which fuels the need to build more houses and schools. The government has put stimulus money into upgrading the schools infrastructure and this will mean that teaching jobs in Perth will need to be filled.
IT and Telecommunication workers are always in demand when jobs in Perth and regional WA picks up. These days all workers have access to computers, mobile phones and as more workers are employed, computers will need purchasing, installation and maintenance.
Most large and complex projects in the resources industry and the corporate arena are heavily reliant on IT, with complex modelling systems there is a need for IT security jobs in Perth to support these projects.
It also follows that with more employment and jobs in Perth are being created and unemployment dropping throughout Perth and regional WA. Other sectors including retail jobs and hospitality and tourism jobs will experience an upsurge in employment as disposable income increases in Perth.
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