It’s time for another quarterly snapshot of the geoscientist employment situation in Australia.

This survey will provide data on trends in geoscientist employment in Australia during the second quarter of 2017.

The March 2017 employment survey showed that unemployment and under-employment for geoscientists had fallen in three of the last four quarters – encouraging news after a prolonged downturn.  Since then, there has been considerable speculation in the media regarding of an upturn in both exploration and mining, with some talking up employment prospects to the point that fears of a skills shortage were being voiced.  This survey will provide a much needed measure of the current situation for geoscientists.  Several resources companies have, this year, reintroduced graduate and vacation employment programmes – a very welcome development and, perhaps, a sign that they are seeking to lock in skills for their futures.

At 31st March 2017, the unemployment rate amongst Australian geoscientists was 12.1%, down from 14.4% in the final quarter of 2016.

Thanks to your support, this survey series is becoming increasingly recognised as an important indicator of not only geoscientist employment but the general health of the exploration and mining sectors in Australia.  The survey results are reported widely and used to promote and inform others of the health of an industry which is vital to Australia’s economy.  Importantly, the data supports advocacy by AIG on the need to improve access to land for responsible, well executed resource exploration throughout Australia.  Please support this ongoing initiative by taking a few minutes to complete this latest instalment in the survey series and encouraging your friends and colleagues to do so.