QLD Mining and Energy Bulletin
Issue link: http://ebook.aprs.com.au/i/42546
INDUSTRY HAYS Queensland recruitment expert Simon Bristow. Simon Bristow Hays Regional Director, Construction and Property Simon joined Hays Construction and Hays Property in 1996, specialising in recruiting in a number of key sectors including construction management, labour hire, and engineering. In 1998, Simon took over the management of a team of consultants recruiting construction, mechanical, and electrical staff throughout London. In 2000, Simon transferred to Brisbane to manage and develop Hays Construction & Property. He has since overseen the growth of Hays Construction, Hays Property and Hays Resources & Mining from fi ve to over 80 consultants across six locations in Queensland in Brisbane (two offi ces), Gold Coast, Ipswich, Maroochydore, and Townsville. Simon has played a leading role in establishing key relationships. In 2001 he helped to establish an agreement to supply technical staff to Brisbane City Council that continues strongly today. Simon graduated with a Bachelor of History with Honours in 1992, and started his career working in retail management. To what extent has Queensland been affected by the skills shortage? There are certainly skills shortages across the board in white and blue collar employment. If you speak to any mining company, whether it is a mining company itself or a contractor or sub-contractor, there are skills shortages emerging in engineering, management at junior, intermediate and senior level. These issues are quite pressing, and I think in trades there is an emerging skills shortage, again there are significant numbers of vacancies – the expectation is that it's going to tighten. During the GFC there was a slowdown, more so in metals than in coal, but we are now starting to see a significant uplift. We're seeing increasing numbers of vacancies. As foreseeable as it is though, I think the skills shortage will continue. In what skills category has the highest level of labour demand? There are demands across the board. There's a big demand for mining engineers and geologists. I think there's a big demand for geologists in a way that perhaps there wasn't fi ve or 10 years ago; that's one of the big demands. Also there's a demand for senior management, technical staff, and site-based staff – supervisors and superintendents. We [HAYS] have a lot of vacancies on our books in white collar. In terms of trades it's across the board – semi- skilled and skilled. The 2011 Federal Budget included packages aimed at boosting skills, training and apprenticeships for the mining sector. Do the measures go far enough? Speaking generally, I think the skills shortage is still a big issue. When you speak to contractors and mining houses some are doing training and some aren't. Is it going to be enough to deal with some of the skills shortages that we're going to see across the whole resources industry in Queensland? I think it would be hard to do anything that's going to be enough, to be honest. How best can mining companies deal with the surge in fl y-in fl y-out (FI-FO) employment? I think there's greater willingness of companies for FI-FOs from Brisbane but, for Queensland, it's something that is [8] QLD Mining and Energy Bulletin Spring 2011 fairly rare. The other big issue that we hear about is accommodation on site. For a range of mines, the issue is having enough accommodation on site – there is a lot of room for the mining companies to start building. In terms of FI-FOs in the next fi ve to 10 years I think it will signifi cantly change with companies looking to spend more in this area. And it only takes one or two to companies and the rest will follow, because those that do will be the ones who will fi nd it easier to get Brisbane-based candidates. Obviously in West Australia it's something that's more common, but it's not really the same in Queensland. Certainly though, post- GFC it's something that's talked about more here in Queensland. What are the main strengths in the Queensland mining sector that attracts workers? Obviously in Queensland there is booming coal production. More generally, in resources, the investment in LNG projects is massive, so there's a lot of work coming up. That said, strong investment in coal appears to be continuing strongly. However, the level of LNG investment is continuing at a pace that I think that LNG is the next best thing. INTERVIEW