An imminent return to boom-time employment levels in the Australian mining sector is likely to accelerate labour cost inflation that is already evident in the industry’s most active hubs in Western Australia and Queensland.
A landmark review of near-term investment intentions by the Australian Mines & Metals Association has identified $41 billion worth of projects that are likely to be installed across our mining nation over the five years to 2024.
As a result, AMMA anticipates that direct employment by the mining sector will grow by about 8 per cent – or more than 20,000 – between now and 2024. The AMMA study quoted an unnamed gold mining executive as saying:
“We are headed for the biggest skills shortage seen since 2012-13. Skilled jobseekers in our industry will soon have even greater advantage in bargaining and determining their employment terms and conditions.”
Given the employment picture plays out as predicted in AMMA’s 2019-2024 Mining Workforce study, total employment by the sector will top 260,000. That is a level not seen since the end of the original investment boom triggered by China’s compounding embrace of seaborne raw materials markets from 2005.
For the rest of this article: https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/mining-employment-returns-to-boom-time-footing-20190916-p52rvp