Minerals Industry Jobs – unemployment rising
Last week, the President of AusIMM – The Minerals Institute, released the details of AusIMM’s important project exploring the employment status and experiences of minerals industry professionals over the past 12 months.
According to AusIMM, the survey revealed:
• Unemployment among AusIMM members has increased from 1.9 per cent in July 2012 to 10.0 per cent in July 2013. The July 2013 results show a 10.9 per cent unemployment rate for Australian minerals professionals and an 8.7 per cent unemployment rate in New Zealand.
• In July 2012, only 2.9 per cent of employed minerals professionals reported that they wanted to work more hours (the ‘under-employed’). By July 2013, there was a three-fold increase in reported under-employment, with 9.1 per cent of survey respondents who were employed saying they would like to work more hours.
• Nearly 60 per cent of those surveyed believe that there will be fewer professional jobs available in a year’s time.
Like many employment surveys, the report illustrates what is going on right now. It is vital for investors however to consider what the future will bring. Will it be more of the same, will it get worse, or is this the nadir?
Roger Montgomery is the Founder and Chairman of Montgomery Investment Management. Roger has over three decades of experience in funds management and related activities, including equities analysis, equity and derivatives strategy, trading and stockbroking. Prior to establishing Montgomery, Roger held positions at Ord Minnett Jardine Fleming, BT (Australia) Limited and Merrill Lynch.
This post was contributed by a representative of Montgomery Investment Management Pty Limited (AFSL No. 354564). The principal purpose of this post is to provide factual information and not provide financial product advice. Additionally, the information provided is not intended to provide any recommendation or opinion about any financial product. Any commentary and statements of opinion however may contain general advice only that is prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial circumstances or needs. Because of this, before acting on any of the information provided, you should always consider its appropriateness in light of your personal objectives, financial circumstances and needs and should consider seeking independent advice from a financial advisor if necessary before making any decisions. This post specifically excludes personal advice.
Yavuz Atasoy
:
Not surprising. As a member of AusIMM I saw the news last week. Redundancies have actually been going on for the last one year or so. All engineering design companies I know of in Perth have halved (if not more) their workforce in the last one year. Having said that there have been a lot of dead wood (as we call it) employed in the industry in the heat of the boom.
Roger Montgomery
:
Thanks Yavuz for those reflections.