Resources Review Feature
Mining jobs soar to record high in WA amid talent gaps
Our founder Dani Tamati was asked for her perspective recently by Resources Review regarding skills shortages in the mining industry in Western Australia. She offers the following insight:
- WA’s mining boom looks great on paper — 135,693 FTEs in 2024 — but the reality on the ground is much more when considering labour hire and subcontract labour.
- “The Tier 1s are not seeing that trickle down as much at the moment.” …. I’ve seen big players ride out shocks while smaller and mid‑tier operators get hammered, and more than once in my time in the industry!
- Simple pay fixes work. One of our clients introduced a sign‑on, six‑month retention bonus and ongoing monthly payments — they were paying at the lower end for mechanical trades but with the retention bonus it was keeping their employees happy. This was proven to be both practical and effective.
- Apprentices get cut first. As I quoted “Apprentices are the first to be let go, yet they are the cheapest labour.” That’s short‑term thinking in our sector — we lose trades capacity for the next upturn, and this has been a ‘rinse and repeat’ too many times, then we are screaming for trades and simply don’t have them due to letting those we need to train go early on in the piece.
- Quotas alone won’t fix gender imbalance: “It is merely setting up many of these women to fail… a tick‑the‑box exercise.” There…. I said it! Real inclusion needs ongoing mentorship, clear career pathways, training and development and support for retention.
- Smaller operators often can’t match the perks the “bigger boys” throw around — which is why targeted training incentives and migration support for small operators matter.
- We’re facing big workforce needs ahead. Practical, funded training like those we see in the Construction industry, with real apprenticeship outcomes, smarter migration support and retention‑first pay structures will keep WA mining competitive.
Take a read of the article below!
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