THE crowds outside Perth’s Burswood Convention Centre today resembled a European football match as more than 10,000 eager Australians waited their turn to speak with resources employers.

As hundreds of major resources employers, top tier construction contractors and training institutes connect directly with the public, the prospects for Australian jobseekers in the resource industry have never been greater.

“The level of engagement these employers are taking to these West Australian jobseekers speaks volumes of the resource industry’s dedication to attract and retain as many Australians as possible,” said AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott.

“Yesterday’s announcement of the industry’s first approved enterprise migration agreement (EMA) might be grabbing the headlines this weekend, but behind the scenes resource sector employers’ first priority is for Australian workers.

“While our exhibition booths are swarming with ambitious Australian jobseekers, the information seminar room is at capacity as our visitors get the information they need to secure long careers in our resources industry.

“The industry has always recognised that skilled migration programs are a small part of our overall skills picture. Such migration programs facilitate project approvals, investor confidence and ultimately create more job opportunities for Australians, not less.

“An event like today really demonstrates this and shows how resource organisations are capitalising on the great opportunities they have to secure thousands of Australian jobs.”

Companies including Oricia Mining Services, Glencore, Leightons, Thiess, Newmont and Rio TInto were among the busiest booths at the AREEA Miningoilandgasjobs.com Expo.

There was also an exceptionally strong interest in the support service companies present at the event including ESS, Sodexo and Morris Corporation – those companies that keep Australia’s working villages operating.

“The continued growth of our resource industry has provided many employment opportunities for a wide range of Australia people. It’s not just the engineers and highly skilled workers benefiting in this environment,” said Gary Neighbour, ESS Recruitment Manager WA/NT.

“Today, ESS has fielded questions from hundreds of everyday Australians looking for work in the support service sector.

“We have openings on everything from chefs, cleaners and bus drivers through to site managers and a range of professional OHS roles.”

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