Engineering Recruitment, Engineers Recruitment, Engineering Employment, Engineering Professionals, Engineering Jobs, WA, Australia

1 August 2011

Recruiting difficulties are chronic in construction and engineering, mainly at the professional and technical level. But Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union state secretary Malcolm Tulloch stated the labour shortage was a ''furphy'', saying it is just a ruse to bring in foreign workers on cheaper rates and drive the wages and conditions down. The chief executive of the Australian Federation of Employers and Industries, Garry Brack, said that as the resources sector continued to expand, the construction industry in particular would find it increasingly hard to fill jobs because of the higher wages that mining companies offered. Master Builders Australia chief executive Wilhelm Harnisch calculates that in the next five to 10 years the mining sector would recruit an extra 60,000 to 80,000 workers, and those from the construction industry are a natural fit. The structural shortage is a concern, as baby boomers retired from the strenuous industry and with the dropout rate among apprentices continuing at up to 50%.

Excerpt from: The Age (www.theage.com.au), 26 July 2011