Perth: 12 March 2014
Unemployment amongst professional geoscientists in Australia is at the highest level recorded since this series of surveys by the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) commenced in June 2009.
At the end of December 2013, 18.7% of Australia’s geoscientists, geologists and geophysicists, working in diverse fields ranging from resources exploration to environmental remediation, groundwater resource management, teaching and research, were unemployed.
Geoscientist unemployment in Australia reached 18.7% in December 2013
A further 14.8% were underemployed: unable to secure their desired level of employment. The combined unemployment and underemployment rate exceeds the level recorded at the peak of the global financial crisis in 2009 and represent a dramatic decline since employment levels peaked in December 2011.
14.8% of Australian geoscientists are currently under-employed
A disturbing result from the survey, apart from the level of unemployment itself, is that the under-employment rate actually fell in the three months between September and December 2013, suggesting that even part-time employment opportunities are drying up, resulting in increased unemployment.
The latest AIG employment survey gathered information on the employment status of geoscientists at 31st December 2013 and the information was collected during January and February 2014. More than 660 responses were received to the survey questionnaire, representing almost one in eight of Australia’s professional geoscientists.
In the three months between September and December 2013, the greatest rise in unemployment was recorded in Western Australia where the rate increased from 15.2% to 19.6%. In NSW the unemployment rate increased sharply from 7.7% to 13.3%, despite the previous September 2013 figures indicating the unemployment rate in that state was showing signs of improving. Smaller increases were evident in South Australia (12.5% to 13.8%) and Victoria (5.0% to 5.6%). Queensland appeared to defy the national trend with the unemployment rate remaining almost stable at 16.4% in December 2013 compared with 16.2% in September 2013, although this is arguably best described as a bad situation not getting any worse.
Unemployment in Australia’s “mining states”
Almost 15% of survey respondents nationally who are currently unable to secure their desired level of employment indicated that this has been the case for more than 12 months. A quarter of unemployed and underemployed respondents were seeking alternate employment outside the geoscience professions until conditions improve, and 9.1% were looking to leave the profession permanently.
Some 46% of the unemployed and underemployed respondents saw little prospect of returning to work as geoscientists in the next 12 months.
Only 42.2% of respondents currently in employment felt confident of retaining their job for more than 12 months while 17% believed that they were at imminent risk of becoming unemployed.
The survey results showed that unemployment is affecting geoscientists at all levels of experience, from new graduates to professionals with more than 30 years experience in their field.
Geoscientists at all levels of experience are affected by the current downturn in employment
More than half (51.8%) of the survey respondents currently work in Western Australia, followed by 27.2% in Queensland and 9.9% in NSW and ACT.
More than 88 percent of geoscientists work in WA, Queensland and NSW/ACT
The majority of the survey respondents (71.7%) work in mineral exploration, followed by 6.5% in metalliferous mining, and 6.5% in energy (coal, oil and gas) exploration. Other respondents are involved in a diverse range of professional fields, encompassing engineering and environmental geoscience, water resource management, industrial minerals exploration and production, government geoscience and teaching.
Mineral exploration remains by far the largest employer of geoscientists in Australia
“The extent of unemployment being experienced by Australian geoscientists defies the strategic importance of the resource industries to Australia’s economy” said AIG President, Kaylene Camuti. “Exploration is crucial to the sustainability of our resource industries.” “Cyclicity in geoscience employment has always been a feature of the industry, with exploration activity ebbing and flowing in line with trends in investment, but the extreme cyclicity currently being experienced in Australia is damaging the underlying productivity of our mineral resources industries and contributing to the erosion of Australia’s geoscience skills base” she said.
“A mineral discovery now takes between 8 and 13 years to become a new mine that provides employment during construction and operations, both directly and more broadly through a multiplier effect, which is longer than the length between the employment troughs experienced by the sector. “Each time a project is suspended, geological knowledge is lost which has a serious impact on productivity. “We also face the prospect of losing years of knowledge and experience if geoscientists leave the profession, posing a serious risk to the sustainability of the Australian resources industry,” Ms Camuti said.
“A frequently overlooked aspect of this problem is that many students are initially attracted into the geosciences through news and other information related to exploration and mining. Through this initial exposure they become aware of the range of geoscience disciplines, the importance of geoscience to the Australian community, and the diversity of careers potentially available to talented graduates and scientists. Each downturn in employment in exploration and mining makes it less likely that talented students will consider the profession, to the detriment of all sectors where geoscience skills and experience are essential” she said.
“In 2013 the Federal Government committed to implementing an Exploration Development Incentive from 1st July this year, to help sustain investment in exploration and reduce the intensity of the troughs affecting the sector,” Ms Camuti said. “We look forward to the introduction of the Incentive and urge the government to maintain the commitment to its implementation, particularly given the continuing deterioration in exploration activity, the potential short and long-term economic benefits that would stem from the Incentive, and the government’s stated commitment to improving the productivity of Australian industries. “The implementation of the Exploration Development Incentive is a critical element in the strategy to improve the productivity and the long term sustainability of Australia’s resource industries and ensure we maintain our world-class geoscience capabilities.”
