Report variety of individuals employed in WA’s assets sector

The variety of individuals employed in Western Australia’s assets sector has hit document ranges, placing it sizzling on the heels of the general public sector as the largest employer within the state.

A minerals and petroleum overview launched by the WA authorities on Wednesday discovered employment within the assets sector rose 6 per cent from the earlier monetary yr to a record-breaking 157,700.

That places the sector as one of many largest employers within the state and about 56,000 jobs behind the general public sector workforce in 2020-21.

The roles figures are being pushed by resilient gross sales of iron ore and booming demand for different commodities corresponding to gold, copper, lithium, nickel, and gasoline, which collectively totalled gross sales of $231 billion in 2021-22 – surpassing the earlier document the yr earlier than of $211 billion.

The McGowan authorities has partly blamed WA’s roaring assets sector for the state’s staffing struggles because it lured employees from sectors like educating and police, however Mines and Petroleum Minister Invoice Johnston stated the figures proved the state’s financial system was in good condition.

“How anyone may flip robust employment into a foul information story is past me, it’s unmistakably excellent news for all West Australians that the mining trade, which is the core factor of [the state’s] financial system continues to go from power to power,” he stated.

“It reveals that although the world is in a tough place and we don’t know precisely what is going to occur with the worldwide financial system, we’ve received a really robust base right here in Western Australia to maneuver via these tough instances.”

It’s the fourth yr in a row commodity gross sales have hit document highs.

A drop within the common iron ore worth from document highs in 2020-21 to US$138.2 in 2021-22 meant gross sales took a $20 billion hit to $137 billion final monetary yr.