THE job market in Singleton is growing and unlike many regional communities the outlook is good.
Jobs advertised in The Singleton Argus almost doubled in number from December 2007 to the same month in 2009, with 115 positions vacant.
It appears the mining sector has insulated Singleton from the worst of the global financial crisis and has provided a strong backbone for continued growth in the area.
Singleton Mission Australia manager Naisse Dermott believes there are plenty of jobs in the local market for people who are open to opportunity and prepared to ‘up-skill.’
She said they did not provide much recruitment for the mining sector but even so, compared to other Mission Australia branches they were performing well and showing signs of a healthy job market.
She said the key to finding work in today’s market was flexibility and skills.
Ms Dermott said they typically had between 30- 40 jobs on their books and while the number of jobs dropped slightly in response to the ‘global financial crisis’ the main outcome had been a reduction in hours of existing jobs.
She said this created a need for people to find additional work hours, and meant they had to be prepared to be more flexible.
The area most affected by the slowdown was the professional sector said Ms Dermott, but labouring, sales, administration, aged care and hospitality were going strong.
Singleton manager of TESA, labour hire and training company, Lee Cousins said there were many opportunities for experienced people in the mining industry.
He said currently more than 200 permanent positions for operators were available across a range of mine sites in the area.
“We’re finding a huge demand from mine sites at the moment,” he said.
“But they are looking for experienced people and that is the hardest thing to do.”
Mr Cousins said they were also seeing a trend towards traineeships.
“Lots of mines are leaning towards traineeships and apprenticeships to introduce people to the industry, and training ‘clean-skins’ so to speak,” he said.
He said there were currently more than 130 trainees at various sites throughout the Hunter Valley, a trend that has reignited in the last two years in response to the skills shortage.
A surge in the number of administration jobs exists in the current local job market and is currently a strong performer for TESA.
“White collar administration jobs; there is a big push for that at the moment,” Mr Cousins said.
Mr Cousins said there was strong demand for people in administration roles across the board, from the local bank through to the mine sites.
“Administration, stores, tech. services people; it is easier to find those people than to find ten truck drivers at the moment.
Strong signs of growth
A REGIONAL snapshot of the Hunter in the Federal Government’s Australian Jobs 2008 report showed the Hunter’s key employment sectors were mining and community care services.
Growth in mining employment across Australian increased by 64.6 per cent in the last five years, with the next highest growth areas being construction, transport and storage and cultural and recreational services in the last five years.
Manufacturing and agriculture, forestry and fishing were the only industries to decline.
Hospitality is showing strong signs of growth and the strong presence of the wine industry in the Hunter will consolidate this trend.
An increasingly ageing population and general population growth will see an increase in the community care sector.
The report indicates that information technology (IT) employment is strong, forecasting a positive outlook through 2010 for IT positions and a positive job market for those with engineering skills.
Growth in accounting jobs will see an increase in demand due to compliance and governance areas, along with an increase in jobs in insurance and real estate.
New employment opportunities are expected to come from health and community services, property and business services and retail trade and education.
There has been a marked increase in the proportion of people participating in education, reflecting the fact that employers are demanding highly trained, well-educated employees.
The Federal Government reports Australian Jobs 2008 suggests that flexibility and skills is the key to employment in today’s workplace.
Both employers and employees of today want greater flexibility, with employers faced with increased competitive pressures and technological and structural change resulting in a greater demand for a skilled workforce.
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