The latest Resources and Engineering Skills Alliance (RESA) Hiring Intentions Insights report shows that South Australia’s energy and mining sector has recently seen a record number of job advertisements.
During the third quarter of the 2023 fiscal year, 930 job advertisements were placed in South Australia, the highest volume of ads since RESA began collecting records in 2013. Around 64 per cent of the jobs advertised were Adelaide-based.
Of those job vacancies, 52 per cent related to trades and operators – the top three of which were diesel mechanics and fitters, mechanical fitters, and mobile plant operators.
A further 29 per cent of ads were for professional positions such as mining engineers, schedulers/planners and project managers, while nine per cent were for supervisors and managers.
Demand for interstate or overseas relocations continued to fall, with only eight advertisements requiring relocation compared with 93 in Q1.
Following on from the previous quarter, demand was greatest in companies including BHP, Nyrstar Port Pirie, Santos, Lucas Total Contract Solutions, GFG Alliance, SIMEC Mining and Tech Force Personnel.
The report suggests the rising job advertisements can be attributed to an increase in activity across the mining and energy operations areas, which is consistent across sectors in the industry.
The steady price improvements that began in the second quarter have continued in the third quarter with copper prices up a further seven per cent, gold prices up a further eight percent and iron ore prices up a further eight per cent. Uranium prices have increased by four per cent, recovering from a dip in price in early November 2022.
Coober Pedy and the outback region represented 19 per cent of regional jobs while Whyalla and Eyre Peninsula represented ten per cent. RESA expects this trend to increase in the coming years as the green hydrogen industry continues to develop in the Upper Spencer Gulf and demand for skilled workers increases.
South Australia Minister for Energy and Mining, Tom Koutsantonis, said the report highlights the strong activity in South Australia’s mining industry, particularly in the areas of copper, steel and hydrogen development.
“Companies anticipating the substantial influence the Hydrogen Jobs Plan will have on the market are also underpinning the record demand for jobs,” Mr Koutsantonis said.
“South Australia has earned a deserved reputation as an attractive destination to explore, mine and set up business.”
In 2023, the South Australian Government renewed funding to RESA for the next four years.
