Hays’ Resources & Mining January – June 2018 Report, which lays out the employment trends in Australia’s resources industry, notes quarry operators are in high demand throughout the state of Victoria.
“An increase in construction activity has placed huge demand on quarries and in turn has created this vacancy activity,” it stated. “However, the manufacturing and operations industry has secured a high number of mechanical fitters, leading to a supply shortage in mining.”
Victoria’s shortage has also been exacerbated due to the majority of skilled quarry operators securing roles in Western Australia, Hays regional director Austin Blackburne told Quarry.
“A lot of them [quarry operators] left for WA for the mining boom and a lot haven’t come back,” Blackburne said.
“The second issue is that there’s a major construction boom going on in Victoria and that’s taking a lot of trades personnel in a lot of industries outside of construction – including quarries.”
In Western Australia, dump truck operators and HD fitters are in high demand, due to increased production requiring additional maintenance work for mobile plant and equipment.
In addition, there is shortage of workers with mining experience in Queensland, which has lead to a high demand for occupations such as diesel fitters, dragline operators and boilermakers.
South Australia, which has seen expansion at its Olympic Dam and Port Pirie redevelopments, is lacking mechanical fitters, boilermaker welders and trades assistants, the report continues.
Mechanical fitters and plant mechanics will be in high demand in the New South Wales mining market, as well as boilermakers, industrial electricians and commissioning site supervisors.
Hays is a leading global specialist recruiting group that has been operating for 40 years. Its operations are spread across the private and public sectors in the Asia-Pacific region, the UK, continental Europe and Latin America.
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