QRC says lots of jobs available in Queensland mining

QUEENSLAND'S resources sector has hundreds of job vacancies from Townsville and Mt Isa in the North, to Toowoomba and Roma in the South and in the nation’s biggest mining town Brisbane, according to the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said there were currently close to 1,400 Queensland job vacancies in mining, resources and energy on the employment website SEEK.

"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.

"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."

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) labour force data revealed the sector was creating a job every hour or 8400 new jobs over the last 12 months.

"The Palaszczuk Government has been committed to maintaining an unemployment rate with a ‘five in front of it’. The resources sector shares the Government’s ambition, and we are ready, willing and able to deliver," Mr Macfarlane said.

QRC’s March quarter State of the Sector report found jobs growth in the coal, minerals, petroleum and gas industries were very strong with a survey of chief executive officers (CEOs) of QRC member companies finding 52 percent would increase their Queensland workforce over the next 12 months, with 13 percent looking to increase employment ‘substantially.’

Only 9 percent of CEOs surveyed said they planned to reduce staff over the next 12 months, with none of the CEOs expecting a substantial decrease.

The Queensland resources sector supports more than 280,000 full-time jobs and contributed over $55 billion to the State’s economy in 2016/17.

Total vacancies in Queensland for mining, resources and energy is 1,396, according to SEEK.

Region	SEEK mining, resources and 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

www.qrc.org.au

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