Specialist And Professional Jobs On The Rise In Australia

18 Dec 2013

AWPA (Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency) published the ‘Resources sector skills needs 2013’ report and one of the key findings is to examine the employment outlook and changing skills for the resources sector.

Based on economic modeling of growth scenarios, the report finds that between 2013 and 2018, there is a transitioning of jobs profile with specialist and professional jobs on the rise, and labor and trade positions shrinking.

Employment in the growing oil and gas operations of Australia is likely to rise by 57% while employment in mining operations is likely to steadily grow by 7.4%. The resources project construction will see a major decline, where low growth scenario modeling finds employment may peak at 83,324 workers in 2014.

The report predicts that when most of the $200-billion worth of large-scale gas projects which are presently under construction, move into production, over 22,000 new jobs will be created by 2018.

Philip Bullock, chairperson of AWPA said that as the resources sector evolves to an operations phase and launch major coal seam gas and liquefied natural gas projects, resources companies will face challenges in employing and retaining workers with the necessary specialist operational experience and skills.

To ensure the resources sector raises the domestic skill supply to meet impending demand, the report recommends:

• The industry to work with the education sector to establish a strategy to support skills development of the local workforce for employment in the oil and gas operations sector.
• The industry input to boot the development of math, science, engineering and technology skills.
• The industry to support career advice strategies to encourage careers in the resources sector.
• The survey of a postgraduate qualification in automation for oil and gas, mechanical, mining and electrical engineering graduates.
• The launch of pilot transitional apprenticeship and training programs to expand operational skills for the oil and gas sector.