BRISBANE (CU)_In March last year, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced social distancing measures and business restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the Pacific nation closed its borders to non-residents and schools moved their activities online. As a result, people began working reduced or no hours for economic reasons and in June 2020 quarter, the GDP fell by a record 7 per cent. The following month unemployment rate reached its highest in over two decades to 7.5 per cent.
This economic downturn was also experienced in the coal sector, a key contributor to Australia’s exports. According to the World Bank, in August last year, Australian coal prices fell by 24 per cent from a year earlier, reaching a four-year low of $50.14 per ton.
However, with many countries beginning to recover from the global health crisis, economic activities are also starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Accordingly, coal prices are also returning to normal levels, which means work and deals on some projects which were halted last year are starting ramp up. As a result, the industry is bracing for a tighter labour market as the Pacific nation, Western Australia in particular, is struggling with shortages in mining workers. Even in the coal-heavy state of Queensland, workers in the industry recently dropped to the lowest level since 2017, to 3606 direct jobs.
“As the coal sector recovers and starts to expand again, that’s naturally going to put pressure on labour resources,” Tony Caruso, managing director of mining contractor Mastermyne, said.
According to Caruso, apart from the shutdowns of some mines last year, the sector is also experiencing pressure from other industries including construction. “You’ve got iron ore up, you’ve got metals up, you’ve got infrastructure and tunnels going on at the same time. And you’re now starting to see coal catch up and go to a more sustainable level and that’s just putting pressure on resources across the board,” he told The Australian Financial Review.
Sharing similar views, Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane noted that the whole resources sector is chasing workers and their biggest competitor is the construction industry which is offering job opportunities closer to where people live. He referred to the example of a bulldozer driver working on a construction project in Brisbane who would be highly unlikely to be involved in the mining industry since the opportunities available for him would be in Blackwater, almost 200 kilometres west of Rockhampton in Central Queensland.
Therefore, he noted that in order to attract workers, the resources industry may have to focus on higher remuneration and better working conditions, although the mining jobs are already high paying.
