Region facing a skills crunch

TOWNSVILLE’S labour market is expected to continue its recovery in 2018 but shortages of skills, particularly in trades, construction and finance roles, could prompt a return to wage inflation, according to recruitment firm Hays.

Hays’ Townsville manager William Ballam was commenting on the firm’s latest national jobs report.

While technology and construction jobs were in demand nationally, Mr Ballam said an upturn in mining and construction would spur demand for skills in engineering, civil construction and trades in Townsville.

There was also high demand for senior finance roles in accounting, he said.

“We are seeing an increase in recruitment, especially for engineering, civil construction and finance,” Mr Ballam said.

“The demand is for more experienced operators, site foremen, site operators and project managers across both the private and public sectors.

“Because of improving conditions in metalliferous mining, we are seeing a lot of demand for skilled trades.

“I think there is going to be a big skills shortage in 2018. You are going to see wage inflation as employers compete for labour.”

Mr Ballam expected local job applicants would be preferred over moving people from interstate.

He said the challenge for Townsville would be attracting skilled workers back to the city after many people left to seek work elsewhere during the downturn of the past two years.

“Townsville’s challenge is how do we attract people back to the city?” he said.

“We have to compete against the more sustained economic environments such as Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.”

In December, research by Conus Business Consultancy Services found 47,000 jobs had been added in North Queensland, including about 15,000 in Townsville during the past year in areas including accommodation and food ( 5400), construction ( 2600) and health care ( 2200).

The latest Hays Jobs Report points to strong vacancy activity for cyber security, “DevOps” and civil construction professionals.

The monthly ABS Labour Force report shows 14 consecutive months of jobs growth nationally while a Hays survey of employers found 45 per cent planned to increase permanent staff in the six months to June.