PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian resources sector was facing double the average national unemployment rate, the Australian Institute for Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) reported on Tuesday.

AusIMM indicated that the unemployment rate in the mining sector had reached double digits, at 12.2%.

AusIMM president Geoff Sharrock said that the research indicated the depth of the downturn in the minerals sector and the high levels of disruption and uncertainty faced by mining industry professionals. 


“Sustained high levels of unemployment are being felt across all minerals professional disciplines and all Australian states and territories. The impacts of cost-cutting in the minerals sector have been particularly broad, deep and sustained. There are minerals professionals with many years’ experience who are struggling to find work.”

The industry body pointed out that geology professionals were facing the highest level of unemployment at 15.1%, while one in ten minerals professionals were made redundant in 2013/14, reflecting a highly volatile employment market.

Workers in the mining industry also reported strong pressure to work more hours for the same amount of pay, to accept lower pay or conditions for the same job, or to accept reduced working hours.

Research by AusIMM showed that less than half of the industry body’s student members were confident that they would find gainful employment in the sector once they graduated, while more than half of AusIMM’s members believed that there would be fewer professional job opportunities in the minerals sector in the coming year. 


“The mining sector relies on its minerals professionals to drive innovation and productivity improvements. The Australian economy relies on minerals professionals to find and develop the resources that will become the mines of the future. It is distressing to see these highly trained professionals out of work,” Sharrock said.

AusIMM CEO Michael Catchpole said the reasons for structural adjustment in the minerals sector were clear, as companies were facing strong pressures to return value to shareholders, focus on productivity and respond to changing demand and reduced prices for commodities.

“However, many highly-skilled minerals professionals are now unemployed and the sector risks losing their skills. As a result we will see long-term adverse impacts on the continued development of Australia’s minerals sector.”

Catchpole noted that every highly-skilled minerals professional that left the sector or went overseas to work diminished the Australian minerals industry’s ability to continue to innovate, to lead the application of new mining technologies and to sustainably improve productivity.

AusIMM called on the federal government to enact policy that would encourage investment in the sector.

“As a priority, the Australian government must act to ensure that its skilled migration programmes reflect the radically changed minerals employment market that we now see, rather than continuing to rely on two-year old labour market data,” Sharrock said.

“These survey results demonstrate the significant impact that the minerals industry’s adjustments have had on minerals professionals. They highlight the risk that the Australian economy could lose further momentum as the professionalism, adaptability and innovation of the economic powerhouse that is Australia’s mining sector is put at risk.

“The need for long-term thinking is clear. There must be a focus on supporting and developing minerals professionals to ensure the future of the minerals sector and Australia’s economic wellbeing,” Sharrock added.