Mixed outlook for local jobs

NEWS an industry-endorsed review of the Bureau of Meteorology’s aviation weather services will move aviation meteorologists to two new national Aviation Forecasting Centres in Brisbane and Melbourne over the next 12 months is a double-edged sword for the jobs market in Cairns.

The changes mean the Cairns Airport Meteorological Office will cease operations but a BOM spokesman said the Cairns Observations Operations Hub, which provides observational equipment maintenance, will continue to have a strong presence with 13 staff increasing to 19 in the future.

The spokesman said BOM would continue to provide Cairns “with the same high quality service as it does all regional Queensland centres” but some think the loss of local forecasting knowledge will leave the region under-serviced.

Bill O’Connor worked in Cairns for 20 of his 36-year career with BOM and was offered jobs in Brisbane or Melbourne before accepting a redundancy package recently.

He said the axing was another example of how city-centric government services were impacting negatively on regional job markets.

But overall, employment trends are looking up and in June was at a six-year high, according to Conus/ CBC Staff Trends data.

The recent federal election also required a considerable amount of government resources meaning a peak in demand for supplied staff in temporary, contract and permanent capacities.

Swarovski opened a second store in the city, new retailers such as Tiffany’s will come to town and Crystalbrook’s Flynn and Bailey hotels will add hospitality and other service jobs to the economy. Alicia Nally alicia.nally@news.com.au