The Resource Industry Jobs Grinder

By now it should be no big secret to anyone that the Australian resources led economy is experiencing a significant downturn which has an effect on the collection of royalties for government, a reduction in our terms of trade, and downward pressure on the AUD (that last one is a good thing). It does also put at risk the levels of employment for those among the resource industry, although we should not forget that manufacturing is very nearly non existent in this country as it is uncompetitive due to the embrace of a high AUD throughout the commodities super cycle.

I watched on last year as iron ore and coal spot prices burnt a proverbial hole in the floor of our economy and saw the major resource companies begin their onslaught in cost cutting measures. These measures are a necessary evil for most outfits as throughout the boom inefficiencies crept in, it is however reasonable to question how much tax these companies pay the government each year. Despite the cheer leading from the majors and Auntie Gina the Australian tax law is littered with juicy little loopholes for those with the resources to abscond from paying their fair share. The issue becomes even more obscene when it is obvious that the taxpayer is actually funding some of their major programs offshore!

In any case I was lucky enough to see the writing on the wall and secured myself a postgraduate study position. Unfortunately for many of my colleagues this has not been the case and they have found themselves unemployed or underemployed. Professional bodies such as the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and the Australian Institute of Geoscience (AIG) have been running employment surveys for the sector for the last few years. These surveys now reveal an unemployment level of 12.2 per cent for minerals professionals. Last year the federal government conducted a review into the 457-visa program, this got me curious seeing as though resource related professions were experiencing strong unemployment I though I would check to see what occupations were accepted for the 457 visa. To my surprise there were many skill sets still listed and are still today on the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) and which are experiencing a current surplus in Australia.

 Some of the professions listed were:

·       Geologists

·       Metallurgists

·       Mining engineers

·       Chemical engineers

·       Materials engineers

·       Geophysicists

·       Geotechnical engineers

The response to the review of the 457 visa was eventually published in September 2014 recommending a more stream lined process and abolish the need for labor market testing (ascertain whether Australian job seekers could fill the position). As you can imagine this made me just a bit furious as to why many of the occupations relating to mining remained on this list at a period when the industry is experiencing such a strong down turn. As a result of this I drafted a letter to the AusIMM requesting they explain their position on this matter and address the disconnect between immigration policy and industry employment trends, I did receive a conciliatory reply to my concerns and a minor demonstration of an attempt to address these issues. This response was followed by a press release on month later (11 Sep 2014) stating that the listed mining professionals must be removed from the 457-visa list immediately, as you can imagine this received minimal exposure throughout the main stream media. It is odd that there was a policy disconnect from around 2012 to the present in relation to mining employment especially when you consider the swift vigour in which the 457 sub-class visa was introduced. The cynic in me considers it an attempt at “in-sourcing” labor to reduce wages and create a more subservient work force.

Further investigation revealed that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) now the Department of Immigration and Border Protection revealed that they like most other organisations host a disclosure log. From it I managed to obtain freedom of information document FA14/03/01378, which was released on the 13^th June 2014. The release contains three data sets for 457 class visas with numbers for professions and their respective sectors one of course being mining; they are divided up into financial years 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13. The data is relatively expansive however I have only separated out those skillsets directly related to mining, there are three silos for each skillset to reflect the financial year intakes and they have been divided up by in the fields of; geoscience, engineering, and processing. The yes (blue) and no (red) results are whether they were approved or not however according to DIAC a result of no may also include and application that was still pending at the time of data capture.

The highest intake of any profession occurred for geologists in the FY 2011-12 when 817 were granted visas a similar trend was shown for mining engineers where 383 awarded. FY 2011-12 also repeated recorded maximums for engineering managers, civil engineers, chemical engineers, metallurgists, production managers/engineers, and materials engineers. These results are interesting because at the same time these increases in 457 visas were occurring there was a substantial wobble in the commodities industry. From FY 2011-12 all skill sets began to decrease in number with the exception of mechanical engineer, which shows a continual increase throughout the series. Although the data set is not current it does provide a glimpse into the 457 visa utilisation throughout the resources sector. DIAC maintains that the number of 457 visas are decreasing however given the high amount of unemployment among those in the resource industry it is questionable whether the particular occupations should still be listed for approval by potential employers.

If I were sitting within any of the professional bodies who host members that are listed on the CSOL I would be watching with great interest and requesting continuous release of data similar to this to determine what is happening in the labor market for their members. As of this year I am no longer a paying member of any professional organisation as I feel they are talking out both sides of their mouth, on one side they will dog whistle their members interests and on the other receive funding from major companies whose interest it is to cut costs and exploit the 457 visa.