Oil And Gas Jobs Still Buoyant In Australia

14 Dec 2012

The oil and gas sector is still driving job creation in Australia says a new report.

The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey reported a mixed bag of findings from Australia employers, with many companies reporting a slowdown in hiring in the first quarter of 2013, particularly in mining and construction.

Michael Sacco, national client manager at ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand, said the sentiment in the mining and construction sector was reflecting the tough conditions the industry had recently faced.

“What we have seen over the last six months across the country is a lot of announcements of projects coming to an end and a lack of investment in future projects,” he said. “There has also been some high-profile job cuts, primarily in the coal sector. A lot of the cutbacks are due to the high Australian dollar, the lower commodity pricing and increased operating costs.”

Mr Sacco said despite the downbeat outlook for mining, there was a silver lining with the oil and gas sector.

He referred to a recent Queensland minerals council survey that showed while about 5000 coal jobs had been cut, 7000 coal-seam gas jobs were created in the first half of this year.

“There is buoyancy in that oil and gas space and there are estimations that there is going to be a lot more investment in the next couple of months,” he said.

Source: http://www.australiamagazine.co.uk/