As 50,000 Mining Jobs Go, Construction and Services Open Doors to Workers

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, the mining boom in Australia is over. Unfortunately at the end of any Golden Age in an industry, layoffs are all but inevitable, and the mining sector has not been immune.

Around 50,000 mining workers have lost their jobs in the past 12 months. Is this alarming? Yes. Is it all bad news? Not by a long shot. To counteract the effects of the slowing down of mining, other industries have surged, leading to new opportunities for people coming out of the industry.

The growing housing market has provided many of these opportunities, allowing miners to find related work in construction.

Australia's mining companies are shedding jobs by the thousands, with 50,000 workers losing their jobs in the past 12 months. Perhaps a bit more surprising has be the proliferation of professional, scientific and technical service jobs, which all appeal to certain job holders in mining. Still yet, the arts and recreation industries are also providing a reprieve for people looking for work.

It could be a little too early to call it a trend, but job postings are on the rise. Since February of last year, jobs have risen by 186,500. That’s the most in two years. Internet and newspaper job adverts have been climbing for the last nine months as well, providing a good indicator that the labour market continues to slowly improve.

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As the economy continues to progress towards services and away from mining, several industries will play a huge part. And although mining gets all the news, manufacturing actually employs close to one million Australians, where mining is just around 220,000.

Healthcare continues to dominate the employment top sport with 1.4 million workers—12 percent of the working population of the country. Retail employs 1.25 million people. Both industries added workers in the last year.

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Information sourced from Sydney Morning Herald.