WA skills crisis to worsen - Australian Bureau of Statistics

[Guest The.Colebecks]

WA skills crisis to worsen

 

 

10 April, 2007

 

 

Australia’s skills shortage is likely to last another two decades, experts have warned, as new figures show the labour crisis in the resources industry continues to worsen.

 

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal the number of job vacancies in WA has jumped from 6700 five years ago to 23,700 today, while vacancies in the mining sector have risen from 1000 to 4400 in the same period.

 

Unfilled mining positions jumped 16 per cent in the last quarter alone.

 

But those numbers reflect only positions for which “recruitment action has been taken”, and commentators say the reality is even more extreme.

 

“In the energy and resources sector now, we’re short around 20,000 people,” said Lisa Barry, national human capital partner at Deloitte, adding that the number was likely to rise to 75,000 by 2015.

 

“People are finally beginning to understand that this issue is entirely material to the economic viability and sustainable growth of their organisation. We always said it would last 10 years, but now we have upgraded that to 20.

 

“Leaders in business in their 40s who are making decisions around radical talent and recruitment strategies are creating something they’ll deal with for the rest of their working lifetime.”

 

Jeff Mackie, principal of human resources consultancy Mackie Employer Solutions, said the situation was likely to remain extremely difficult for mining companies for the foreseeable future, adding that employers were struggling to retain existing staff, let alone find new recruits.

 

Research by Mr Mackie’s company showed average annual turnover in resources companies was around 27 per cent, and on the rise.

 

“In a company that employs 1000 workers, around 270 are leaving each year. And that doesn’t take account of the new projects coming onstream that require additional workers,” he said.

 

Mr Mackie said when the skills shortage first started to bite, employers sought to solve the issue by offering more money and better conditions.

 

“But now there is the realisation that there is a limited pool of people in a competitive market, and employers can’t just keep upping the ante and leapfrogging each other,” he said.

 

Family-friendly conditions, training and development, overseas opportunities and attractive option and bonus packages were all playing a role in attracting staff.

 

“We are also seeing retention bonuses, where employees are paid simply for staying with the company, regardless of performance,” he said.

 

Overseas recruitment had moved well beyond the traditional markets of the UK and US, he added. “They’ve been done to death and now people are looking to all sorts of places, from the Philippines to Azerbaijan.”

 

“In the past, getting people from overseas took several months and seemed all too difficult. Now people realise that position is going to be vacant for three months anyway, so they are willing to wait for the international staff.”

 

BHP Billiton and others are also increasing their investment in scholarships, in the hope that recipients will ultimately join their company.

 

Other strategies becoming commonplace in the recruitment sector include the use of “greenskins” (people with skills in an allied field who are then trained for related positions), “lift-outs” (which involve poaching an entire division or team from a competitor) and “academies” (companyrun training programs designed to educate prospective candidates while promoting the corporate brand).

 

Spotters fees, where existing staff are rewarded for attracting new employees, are also accepted practice, particularly at professional services firms. Accounting firms are offering up to $10,000 while law firms are offering up to $20,000 per recruit.

[ali]

Yet WA is supposed to have the lowest unemployment

[calNgary]

According to our local paper 100 people a day are leaving the uk for a better life in Oz,so where they all going ? and more to the point who's left in the uk ?

Cal x