The Pluto Project in WA is set to expand with the new gas discovery.
Western Australia’s booming economy could be good news for skilled worker migrants as a skills shortage looks set to hit the Australian state.
CommSec’s State of the States report ranked each Australian state for housing, jobs and population growth and it found that whilst Queensland is floundering behind because of the decline in tourism. Western Australia came top, with an economy that has grown by up to 26%.
The mining boom is thought to be behind Western Australia’s growth and the mining industry received another boost this month when gas was found near the Pluto field owned by Woodside Petroleum. Woodside are now planning to expand their Pluto gas export project and hope to have two production trains in by the end of this year and a third in 2011. That means a major boost to the local economy and more skilled workers required to help man the project.
Economic analyst Peter Kenyon from Perth’s Curtin University warns that a further mining boom may result in huge skills shortages, such as those that accompanied the mining boom of 2008: “Western Australia is doing well in terms of population growth and labour supply is increasing…we are likely to see a little bit of amelioration in the absolute skills shortage that we saw towards the end of the boom in 2008,” he stated. “I think that will be short-lived.”
Professor Kenyon also stated how smaller businesses could also find themselves scrambling to recruit skilled migrant workers: “I think before very long we will again see the job advertisements increasing for waiters and all sorts of staff in the windows of all the businesses around Perth. Not enough time has passed for us to build the skills base to get over that shortage.”
Australian migration agent and Embrace Australia community member, Susan Wareham McGrath met with Australia’s Federal Minister for Small Business, the Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP last week and he revealed how the potential skills shortages could impact across Australia as workers migrate across states to Western Australia, thereby resulting in other skilled shortages across the country.
For now the biggest winners to reap the rewards of Western Australia’s growth could be skilled workers from overseas. As WA’s mining industry continues to go from strength to strength, many new projects are getting underway and demand is set to grow for workers who have skills in the natural resources industries.
Whether or not this will affect the Future Skills List remains to be seen as the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) have yet to release an official statement on the situation, but skilled workers currently waiting to hear about their Australian visa applications must surely be holding their breaths for some good news.
If you are thinking of benefitting from Western Australia’s skills shortages then take a look at our visa section to see if you are eligible for an Australian visa. There are also many job fairs held by companies such as Next Step Australia where you can get career advice and usually Western Australia is represented at these events, so you can find out the best way of securing yourself a job in one of the fastest growing states in Australia.
Other related articles:
- Western Australia Mining Boom to Benefit Immigration - New gas discoveries lead to a mining boom in Western...
- Woodside Head Warns of Australian Skills Shortages - Major industry boss warns DIAC of critical skills shortages....
- Australian Government Protects Migrant Workers - Workers migrating to Australia have rights enforced in new laws...
- WA Calls For Migrants To Fill Labour Shortages - The wait for SMPs increases as WA call for more...
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