An annual survey conducted by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) has revealed a healthy outlook for the resources sector, indicating a return to full employment for professionals.
Over 1500 respondents completed AusIMM’s Professional Workforce Survey this year, with the results pointing to a strong upturn in employment throughout the sector.
The 2018 edition of the report found the industry had an unemployment rate of just 2.6 per cent, which is less than half the national average and is significantly lower than the 14.1 per cent unemployment rate which was recorded by AusIMM in 2016.
70 per cent of respondents also signalled they felt the sector offered increased opportunities in 2018 – a significant turnaround from just three years ago when only 17 per cent of respondents felt optimistic about opportunities in the sector.
AusIMM CEO Stephen Durkin said it was encouraging to see optimism among student respondents, in particular, with 68 per cent expressing confidence in industry growth and employment in 2018 – a figure that has doubled since 2015.
“Increasing student confidence in the sector, will encourage more young people to enter STEM-related courses with the assurance of a long, stable career in a strong industry. This is significant given the importance of attracting and retaining a skilled workforce to a changing industry,” Mr Durkin shared.
Further to this, innovation, automation and technological development were of ‘increasing importance’ to respondents in the survey.
“The sector is changing, and we need to ensure that the skills of the future workforce are cultivated, to fully embrace innovation and automation and all the opportunities it offers for growth in the sector,” Mr Durkin explained.
Lastly, the survey asked how diverse participants thought their workplace was based on race, ethnicity, heritage, gender, age, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
The results found that mining and metallurgy professionals viewed their workplaces to be diverse, with 69 per cent of male and 64 per cent of female participants indicating that their workplaces met or exceeded expectations.
However, those surveyed indicated that more work needed to be done to improve the perception of the industry more broadly, with over half of female participants expressing the view that the industry was not diverse, compared to 32 per cent of male participants.
Mr Durkin said the industry needs to be on the front foot with promoting diversity and inclusion if it wants to achieve real growth.
“A diverse and inclusive sector will attract and retain the necessary talent for a modern, sustainable mining industry, while encouraging innovative thinking from a broad pool of professionals,” he voiced.