The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has called for local workers to apply for resource jobs with news of hundreds of job vacancies available in areas such as Townsville and Mt Isa in the North, to Toowoomba and Roma in the South.
QRC’s Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane commented that there was up to 1,400 Queensland job vacancies in mining, resources and energy.
“To borrow the famous quote from Lord Kitchener, ‘we want you’ to apply for a job in resources and fill these vacancies,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“Jobs in the resources sector are good jobs. Resource jobs are well-paid jobs. The mining industry has by far the highest average weekly full-time adult earnings of any industry at $2659 – or over $138,000 per annum.”
The recently released Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) labour force data has also revealed that the resources sector was creating approximately ‘one job every hour or 8400 new jobs over the last 12 months’.
“Our sector continues to drive economic opportunities both in the regions and the larger cities and if we are to maintain this momentum and increase royalties the sector needs people operating the machinery, loading the ships and working with communities,” stated Mr Macfarlane.
The Queensland government has stated that they are committed to maintaining an unemployment rate with a ‘five in front of it’. The resources sector shares their ambition, and have stated that they ‘are ready, willing and able to deliver’.
According to QRC’s March Quarter ‘State of the Sector’ report, it was found that job growth in the coal, minerals, petroleum and gas industries were regarded as ‘strong’ with a survey of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of QRC member companies finding 52 per cent would increase their Queensland workforce over the next 12 months, with 13 per cent looking to increase employment ‘substantially.’
In the same report, only 9 per cent of CEOs surveyed by the QRC said that they ‘planned to reduce staff over the next 12 months’, with none of the CEOs expecting a substantial decrease.
The Queensland Resources Sector supports over 280,000 resource-related full-time jobs and contributed over $55 billion to the State’s economy in 2016/17.
Mining, Resources & Energy Vacancies
Brisbane – 288
Gladstone and Central Queensland – 161
Rockhampton and Capricorn Coast – 115
Mackay and Coalfields – 519
Townsville – 97
Mount Isa – 87
Toowoomba and Darling Downs – 43
Roma and Western Queensland – 87
(Source: SEEK)