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Australian engineering opportunities
If you’re a skilled engineering tradesperson, then you’ll find employment opportunities all across Australia
In Queensland the engineering trades are still dominated by manufacturing – however, many still find employment in construction, mining, transport, wholesale, retail and government sector trades. Due to strong demand from the mining sector, demand for key engineering tradespeople has continued to grow in the state during the last year.
Overall, manufacturing employment has also continued to grow over the last two years. An Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Labour Force Survey showed the state's annual average employment in 2006 was over 7,000 people higher than in 2005. In contrast, the national growth was just 1.1 per cent. The mining sector has also experienced a boom, with the Labour Force Survey data showing that almost 14 per cent more people were employed in the mining engineering trades in 2006 than in 2005.
The Queensland Department of Natural Resources also reported employment growth in coal mining of more than 2,800 people – 18 per cent up from the previous year. This huge growth has meant that employers seeking skilled engineering tradespeople in Queensland have experienced major recruitment difficulties. Engineering trades employers contacted for this year's Survey of Employers who Recently Advertised (SERA) cited demand from the mining-related sector as a major problem for their recruitment drives. Employers in the mining sector can also afford to offer greater cash incentives to employers.
During 2007 the demand for skilled engineering people in Queensland has been concentrated on fitters, metal fabricators, sheetmetal workers and welders. All engineering trades are assessed as being in state wide shortage, and this situation is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. In New South Wales, demand for engineering trades has been more subdued, due to weak labour demand in the metal manufacturing industries. The ABS Labour Force Survey showed no significant increase in employment in the engineering trades during 2006, while the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) Skilled Vacancy Index showed that there were few jobs in the sector advertised in the press. However, because of supply-side factors there are still shortages in many of the engineering trades assessed by DEWR. Shortages in the region are expected to persist over the short term, due to growing activity in non-residential construction and mining.
Engineering trade shortages also exist in Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia. In Victoria, the demand is mainly dependent on metal manufacturing and non-residential construction, although machinery and equipment manufacturing is also a significant source of employment.
The data from the DEWR Skilled Vacancies Index seems to show that demand for engineering tradespeople has been declining over the last five years; however, the SERA shows that there are shortages of skilled candidates to fill vacancies for engineering tradespeople. Victoria recognises that skilled migration is a good source of supply for many engineering trade occupations, and migrant metal fitters, toolmakers and aircraft engineering tradespeople are particularly in demand.
In South Australia, engineering tradespeople in demand include metal machinists, sheet metal workers and welders. However, toolmakers, metal fitters and metal fabricators are not currently needed in the state. Conversely, in Northern Territory and Western Australia, all engineering tradespeople are in demand. Engineering construction in NT has recently been boosted hugely by projects like the Wickham Point LNG plant construction and Alcan's G3 alumina refinery expansion.
Demand in the long term looks set to continue, due to more major projects that are set to commence. Data from the ABS Census shows that the largest proportion of engineering tradespeople in NT work in the mechanical engineering field. To meet the demand, NT has a drive to recruit people from overseas and other parts of Oz.
Western Australia is also in search of engineering tradespeople to fill its skills shortages. Demand depends mainly on trends in the metal manufacturing industries, non-residential construction and mining and resources development. All have experienced high levels of growth in recent years, and ABS Labour Force Survey data shows that the quarterly average employment of mechanical and fabrication engineers tradespeople in WA increased by 23.7 per cent in 2006. All assessed engineering trades are in state wide shortage in WA, and continuing demand from the non-residential construction industry, major infrastructure projects and metal manufacturing industry, suggests that these shortages will continue in the future.
For a comprehensive overview of the outlook of
individual industries across Australia, visit Work Place
Various websites advertise trade jobs in Australia. Visit Jobs Plus for a selection of currently listed employment openings.
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