www.miningnewspremium.net/...ryid=1541301§ionsource=s0Thursday, 14 October 2010
SALARIES are starting to strengthen again as the skills shortage in the mining sector starts to bite once more. By Brooke Showers
An abundance of new projects in Western Australia has spurred hiring activity and boosted demand for specialist skills in the resources sector, with some senior roles in the mining sector attracting 30% salary increases.
Ambit Engineering Recruitment launched its August salaries and rates guide for the WA resource sector, and the survey shows a 5% increase on average in the past three months.
Many of the roles that experienced 10% pay cuts following the economic downturn in 2008-09 are returning to health, with dramatic pay rises. Based on the guide, just before the global financial crisis bit in August 2008, a senior engineering manager was earning around $225,000.
Over the course of economic repair that followed, the average salary dropped to about $202,500 by February. A rebounding economy has led to that average leaping to about $264,000, according to the study.
Variation in, and the subsequent appraisal of, the resource sector salary levels is evident of a market re-igniting the boom times.
However, with its recovery comes the skill shortage side-effect and the salary wars likely to erupt between business players to secure the industry’s best. Both the oil & gas and mining sectors are offering sharp rises in pay scales, as the demand for more engineers, construction, contract and procurement managers is demonstrated.
Recruiters forecast senior procurement managers, who received about $135,000 in February, can expect a nice rise with salaries being offered around the $211,200 level.
Salary increases have occurred against a backdrop of market uncertainty and resistance against the resources super-profits tax that led some employers to slow their recruitment on certain projects, Ambit observed.
Ambit Recruitment chief executive officer Peter Acheson confirmed the spectacular rises signalled the market was returning to a state of skills shortage.
“Until now, demand for resource sector workers has been met from within local and industry sources,” he said. “However, as the pool of available experienced professionals is exhausted, there’s upward pressure on rates – which is now becoming evident.”
Acheson predicted the sector would need 38,000 additional employees for an estimated $170 billion of projects currently scheduled, and believes the upward pay trends will trigger high turnover as workers follow the money. Some recruitment companies will be addressing the demand for skilled and experienced personnel by sourcing them internationally.
As the skill shortage deepens, and competition enters the recruitment space, employers will need to “secure key personnel as soon as practicable ahead of the project start dates, as talent will be more difficult and more expensive to secure”, Acheson advised.
Securing the right employees increases the reliance technology-savvy recruiters have on networking websites in order to build successful business relationships.
However, the online space used to reach a wider range of candidates and accelerate the hiring process also shares the same public forum where personal profiles and social networking sites are exhibited.
Hays Resources and Mining conducted an online survey to determine social media’s place in the recruiting process. According to the survey results, although some people’s personal lives appear in public domains, just under half of online jobseekers believed there was no reason for hiring managers to use social networking profiles to help distinguish a candidate’s suitability for a position.
Hays regional director Simon Winfield explained: “A Facebook profile with a public setting may reveal content that could make an interviewer see you in a different light”.
Of the 899 people who completed the survey, 46% of jobseekers believed a social media profile should be classified and viewed differently from other publicly available data when forming decisions for professional placements.
“The opposing argument says any actions that take place in the public domain are open to public scrutiny and assessment,” Winfield said.
He explained employers were much more likely to check a Facebook profile if they doubted a candidate had accurately represented themselves. The public site would be checked to see if any content was revealed to support their first impressions.
Another 34% of the jobseekers surveyed believed employers did base hiring decisions on social networking profiles and had no problem with it being used to appraise and verify applications, supporting the notion that employers should use all information available. The questionable validity of such websites being used in the hiring process rests with how the employer interprets the personal profile and correlates what the profile reveals about the jobseeker’s lifestyle with how they are likely to perform on the job.
This debate may have discrimination cases written all over it but a simple solution would be to not disclose information that may impact on the career path a person has chosen.
“If you are job searching it would be wise to change your privacy settings so that you do not share all your posted content with everyone,” Winfield advised.
Most of the time, personal aspects of an employee’s life do not impact at a professional level. However, employers have a right to protect their investment by making sure the people they are hiring are, at the very least, being honest.
Winfield said cyberspace could be used to enhance a potential employer’s perception of candidates if they could leverage networks such as LinkedIn to showcase their skills, highlight their expertise and passions, and express a knowledge and understanding of industry trends.
For the mining recruitment companies that rely on faster and broader communication connections to source the right talent, the internet and online hiring presence is crucial.
The ability to network with skilled potential employees around the globe to fill specialised vacancies adds value to the recruitment process and broadens the selection of candidates.
Jobseekers who create an online professional profile can strengthen their own hiring process by allowing employers to freely access information and validate employment history and experience in a public space.
Websites such as engineeringjobs.com, LinkedIn.com and careerone.com.au allow jobseekers to create a profile complementing their resumes, displaying information relevant to a vacancy.
Social networking sites can help solve the skills shortage but there are some associated risks for both employers and prospective employees.
This article was first published in the September 2010 edition of Australia's Mining Monthly
Text zur Anzeige gekürzt. Gesamten Beitrag anzeigen »
BOC - Auf dem Weg zum TENBAGGER, die ersten 300% sind schon erreicht ;-))))))))))))