THE skills shortage is hitting Australia’s mining states hard with close to half of all businesses in Western Australia and Queensland directly affected, according to new data.

According to Bankwest’s Social Indicator Series, 40% of respondents in Western Australia and Queensland reported that difficulties in attracting staff had negatively impacted on their business. This compares to 28% in the rest of the country.

Bankwest Business chief executive Ian Corfield said the skills shortage was proving an issue for many businesses, particularly given the ongoing resource demands from Asia.

“Australia is feeding the resource needs of China and India,” he said. “This is putting direct pressure on the job markets in Western Australia and Queensland and it has an additional flow-on effect into the other states.

“This is resulting in significant changes in the way businesses operate.”

The Bankwest survey found that 47% of WA and Queensland businesses had experienced problems filling job vacancies.

In the two states, 49% of respondents reported paying staff more compared to 36% of businesses nationally, while 74% of WA and Queensland businesses had been forced to hire less experienced workers compared to 68% nationally.

Meanwhile, mining and engineering companies are tipped to face a significant skills shortage in 2011 with competition for quality professionals expected to be extremely fierce, according to a global salary survey.

The annual Robert Walters’ Salary Survey found that competition will be strong due to a large number of projects scheduled to move into the construction phase in quick succession.

Robert Walters’ managing director Australia, James Nicholson, says this demand is expected to result in significant salary increases and will be experienced across a number of industries and regions.

“We expect to see strong demand in the Western Australian and Queensland oil and gas market and most of the Australian mining and rail industries,” he said.

“We will also see increased recruitment activity within power, water infrastructure and port development companies due to continued investment in these sectors, such as BG Group’s $15 billion investment in coal seam gas in Queensland.

“With such strong competition for top talent, companies will need to avoid lengthy recruitment processes in order to secure their preferred candidates. We also expect that many organisations that have previously resisted sourcing candidates from overseas will be forced to do so.”

The survey found that recruitment activity and salaries rose across several industries in 2010 due to ongoing growth and skills shortages.


The Salary Survey is available here.