Follow the job money trail

Amanda Horswill

Mining is not the only high-paying industry screaming for workers. Switch jobs and prosper, writes Amanda Horswill.

RUNNING off to Western Australia and jumping on a bulldozer is one way to cash in on Australia’s booming jobs market. Mining still is the biggest growth giant in the employment sector and has the capacity to pay more than any other industry – an average of $1612 a week.

More than 1100 extra jobs were created in the past 12 months. There now are about 5000 mining jobs vacant across Australia. But there are thousands of other high-paying jobs that need to be filled.

All it takes is a little retraining, an open mind, time and a eye firmly on the dollar. Across Australia, the biggest paying areas that are in desperate need, besides mining, include what the Statistics Bureau calls professional, scientific and technical services.

That sector gets paid an average of $1133 a week and includes jobs such as engineers, accountants, lawyers and veterinarians.

Financial and insurance service employees are in hot demand, being paid an average of $1160 for jobs such as stockbrokers, financial advisers or funds managers. Russo Recruitment state manager Denise Love says jobs from entry-level accounting positions, paying from $45,000, to $100,000 finance executive jobs, are extremely difficult to fill.

“There is a global shortage of employees in that field,” Love says. “We have lost a lot (overseas) because of that. “Around the mid-range assistant accountant level, many people are going over seas — particularly to the UK — and it’s also a market where people tend to move forward in their careers very quickly, because there is more opportunity for them to move between jobs. They are being approached. Shoulder-tapping has never been so strong in that market.”

Communication services industry pays information, media and telecommunication workers an average of $1062 a week. Those jobs include publishers, company-employed marketing officers and web designers.

There is also a huge demand for retail workers, thanks to the same booming economy driving the jobs surge. It is ranked second in demand behind mining. Retail staff earn about $538 on average, dragged down by the high number of part-time workers in the industry or about $811 for full-time positions. Even though retail jobs may not pay as much as some of the other areas in need, wages could be in for a lift because workers are so rare.

Growth also is being felt in areas not many would expect. Bus drivers are so rare that Surfside Buslines on the Gold Coast will guarantee a job to 50 people wanting to take on the $45,000-plus-a-year position.

Landscapers are being poached from Metropolitan South TAFE before they have finished their courses. Queensland is bucking the Australian-wide trend for job vacancy increases but it is difficult to pin down a reason.

In May last year, there were 368,000 Queensland vacancies recorded by the ABS. This May, that figure fell to 356,000. The ABS finds these figures by asking a sample group of employers about the jobs they have to fill.

Commerce Queensland’s Paul Bidwell says those statistics are at odds with business confidence, which the organisation charted as strong in the June quarter this year. Bidwell says its Pulse survey found that businesses expects conditions to improve further over the September quarter.

“The unemployment rate (people without jobs) has decreased to 4.4 per cent nationally, Queensland is 3.4 per cent so we are the second best performing state,” he says.

“Sales and revenue is expected to grow. Wages are expected to grow. Interestingly, unemployment remains pretty steady so I am just wondering why the vacancy rate is falling? Is it that people are just saying they can’t get people? Some companies can’t get new employees and that’s the reason wages are going up.

They have to pay more to keep the people they have. “Are they saying there’s no people out there to employ so there’s no point trying to fill vacancies?”

Kelly recruitment services Queensland branch manager Brent Kielly says the falling state vacancy figures could be because employers are giving up hope of ever finding the right person. Increased demand for workers means some employees “job hop” or take one job, stay for a few months and then leave for a higher paying job at another company.

“The tide is turning with employers, who are saying to us: `Don’t send us a job hopper. We are paying a premium price so we want someone who has a job ethic that will stay for 12 to 18 months-plus’,” Kielly says.

Smooth sailing


IT TOOK all hands on deck to find Hemmant boat builder Warren Yachts a financial manager. Human resources manager Linda Roberts said that, for months, the company had been looking for someone to lead the money side of the business.

“We were doing everything – press advertisements, the internet, using recruitment agencies – but, when it comes to those sorts of positions, it is very hard to find someone.”
She says the long search was worth it because they found the perfect fit.

“She fits the job well, because she has a background in the boating industry,” Roberts says. “She definitely has the skills.” The search continues for an accounts payable position.
“We did have a couple of people lined up (for the job) but it doesn’t always work out.” she says.

“There were counter offers going on and all sorts of things. We are willing to negotiate for particular positions, depending on what our needs are and how hard they are to get.”

Casting web

INTERNET consultancy services is another booming industry demanding thousands of new employees each year. Julian Drake’s West End internet design company iFactory has been looking for a senior web designer for some time.

“We have grown rapidly over the past year. We have gone from two people a year ago and I have just recruited our seventh,” Drake says. “We have found it very difficult to get quality. Although our industry is a professional service that requires a high level of skill, there is a presumption that anyone’s brother or niece who is at college can work up a website. It’s like the courts where you can defend yourself but you can’t call yourself a barrister.”

He says the pay for entry-level positions for graduates of a recognised tertiary-level course is about $40,000. That could rise to $60,000 after a few years of on-the-job experience.
“There are a lot of private colleges that can teach you aspects of web design and there are a lot of very good university courses,” Drake says.

“Griffith University is particularly good and there’s some great TAFE courses,” he says.

Home help

ECC Lighting and Living at Fortitude Valley has been searching for a lighting salesperson for about a month. Retail manager Pauline Slowiak says it has had plenty of applications but only one it could seriously consider.

“We can’t just take someone off the streets. We need someone with interior design skills and that’s not easy to come by,” Slowiak says. “We would like someone who also has lighting expertise but that’s a rare thing. We would train them in that.

“We haven’t been comfortable enough with anyone to even discuss salary. We had one person we were happy with but she didn’t want to work on the weekends. We need someone to work on Sundays.

“The pay depends on experience. We are looking at about $38,000, which I don’t think is too bad. They would work on a rostered basis from 8.30am-5pm week days and 10am-4pm weekends but only five days a week.”

Great outdoors


TED Lawrence was a bank manager five years ago. Now, he is a student of landscaping and already has had plenty of on-the-job experience. Despite the drought, his skills are in hot demand.
“There are always plenty of jobs being offered in the paper for landscapers,” Lawrence says.

“A lot of people say that there should be less demand for landscapers because of the drought but rain really doesn’t matter. People still need fences and walls, restructuring work, grassed areas paved, People still need work done on their yards.”

Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE director Linda Brown says students were being “headhunted” before they even finished the landscaping course. Demand is being pushed high by southeast Queensland’s population boom.

“There is a huge demand by developers for skilled landscapers who produce quality landscaping,” Brown says.
“Not only do new homeowners want to move into a home without bare dirt out the front, many building covenants require some form of landscaping before owners move in.”

Skill set

FILLING the job of a job filler is a tough task. There are just under 500 vacant jobs for recruiters in southeast Queensland, according to Kelly Services corporate branch manager Brent Kielly.
“Within our industry, we are finding people are being accepted into roles with three months’ experience and no references,” Kielly says.

“Depending on experience, the starting pay is between $45,000 and $65,000 plus bonuses. “I think you need to be driven, motivated, someone that can adapt to change rapidly and you need to be both proactive and reactive.”

Jobs to watch

THE highest paid industries that experienced vacancy growth over the past year:

• Mining, at $1612 a week
• Professional, scientific and technical services at $1133 a week
• Finance and insurance at $1160 a week
• Information Media & Telecommunications at $1062 a week

INDUSTRIES with vacancy increases from February to May 2007 quarters. Wages must go up:

• Property and business services
• Retail
• Finance and Insurance
• Cultural and recreational services
• Mining
• Personal and other services
• Education
• Communication services

Source: ABS

The big picture – Jobs to watch

Industries with vacancy increases in the February to May 2007 quarter. Wages must go up:

• Property and business services
• Retail
• Finance and Insurance
• Cultural and recreational services
• Mining (growth slowing)
• Personal and other services
• Education
• Communication services

Jobs on the slide

Industries with vacancy decreases in the February to May 2007 quarter. Wages must fall:

• Wholesale trade (falling the most, by 4000 jobs a year)
• Construction (fell by 2400 a year)
• Health and community service job vacancies are not increasing. From February to May this year, vacancies fell by 1300.

Source: ABS

By Amanda Horswill, The Courier-Mail, August 4, 2007.