Australia – Mines may turn to less-skilled workers

THE Department of Treasury has been told mining companies may be forced to use less experienced staff to proceed on a significant pipeline of construction in the sector.

In its quarterly economic roundup, Treasury says the mining industry is facing challenges recruiting and contracting workers, particularly for highly-specialised technical positions.

“With a significant pipeline of construction, these shortages were expected to continue in the near term,” Treasury said.

“In some cases, there were reports that this could lead to either sourcing less-experienced staff or breaking up contract work into smaller parts.”

In the non-mining economy, there were signs of upward pressure on wages in the construction sector with mining firms increasingly looking to hire workers with complementary skills.

“However, contacts generally noted that, with demand in other parts of the construction sector relatively weaker, this was unlikely to be a pressure in the near term,” it said…

via Mines may turn to less-skilled workers | News.com.au.

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