Slide 1 Labour Market Conditions in Goldfields/Esperance

Notes

16 September 2014

Presented by Ivan Neville

Labour Market Research and Analysis Branch

Department of Employment

www.employment.gov.au

Slide 2 Slowing employment growth across WA

Notes

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, July 2014 (12 month averages of original data); Department of Employment, Vacancy Report, (Seasonally adjusted) July 2014

Western Australia’s annual employment growth dipped from a high of 5.3 per cent in December 2012 to 1.8 per cent in July 2014.

Internet vacancies have declined significantly since July 2012 to stand at 19,800 jobs in July 2014.

Slide 3 Recent decrease in mining employment

Notes

Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, May Qtr. 2014 (4 qtr. averages)

After recording an increase in total employment growth between 2010 and 2013, mining in Western Australia has been recording a negative annual growth since the August 2013 quarter.

Slide 4 Temporary work (skilled) visa grants declining.-Subclass 457 visa grants located in Western Australia

Primary applications granted by sponsor industry (year ending)

30 June 2013 30 June 2014

Change from 2013-14 (%)

Construction 3,320 1,800 -45.8%

Mining 2,670 1,490 -46.1%

Health Care and Social Assistance 1,160 790 -31.6%

Manufacturing 1,070 380 -64.9%

Accommodation and Food Services 850 830 -2.9%

All industries 14,660 8,610 -41.3%

Notes

Source: Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Subclass 457 quarterly report, quarter ending at 30 June 2014, http://www.immi.gov.au/media/statistics/pdf/457-quarterly-report-2014-06-30.pdf

The number of primary subclass 457 visas granted in Western Australia fell by 41.3 per cent in 2014, reflecting softer labour demand and economic conditions compared with 2013.

Slide 5 Full-time employment growth slowing

Notes

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, July 2014 (12 month averages of original data)

Full-time employment growth for males and females in Western Australia has slowed in the past year.

Slide 6 Goldfields/Esperance ESA

Notes

A Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences in the Goldfields/Esperance Employment Service Area (ESA) was conducted in February 2014.

The Goldfields/Esperance ESA is comprised of the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Coolgardie, Dundas, Esperance, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Laverton, Leonora, Menzies, Ngaanyatjarraku, Ravensthorpe and Wiluna.

Slide 7 Population Profile

RegionAdult

Population(15+)

Adult Population

Growth(2007-2012)

Median Age

Kalgoorlie/Boulder LGA 25,600 12% 31

Esperance LGA 11,000 6% 38

Goldfields/Esperance ESA 48,700 13% 33

Western Australia 1,965,400 16% 36

Notes

Source: ABS Estimated Resident Population 2012; ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2011

The Goldfields/Esperance ESA experienced lower population growth (13 per cent) than Western Australia (16 per cent) from 2007 to 2012, but was slightly above the national growth (10 per cent).

The median age in the ESA (33) was lower than both the state (36) and national (37) medians.

Slide 8 Age Profile of the Goldfields/Esperance ESA

Significant age disparity between Esperance and Kalgoorlie

Notes

Source: ABS, Estimated Residential Population, 2012

The Goldfields/Esperance ESA had a larger proportion of 20-44 year olds than Western Australia as a whole. This was mainly driven by a larger proportion of this age group in the Kalgoorlie/Boulder LGA. The Esperance LGA had a lower proportion of 20-39 year olds than the state and a larger proportion of people aged 45 and above.

Slide 9 Many jobs filled with people living outside the ESA

Notes

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2011

Some 19 per cent of people who work in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA live outside the ESA. The majority of these people live in Perth (69 per cent).

Slide 10 Mining essential to the region

Notes

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2011

At the time of the 2011 Census, the largest employing industries in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA were Mining (22 per cent), Retail Trade and Construction (both 8 per cent).

Slide 11 Gold and Nickel drive the local economy

Notes

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2011

At the time of the 2011 Census there were:

3,340 persons employed in Gold Mining

1,170 persons employed in Other Mining/Primary metal Manufacturing

940 persons employed in Mining Support Service

860 persons employed in Nickel Mining

640 persons employed in Nickel Smelting

Slide 12 Local labour market influenced by the gold price

Notes

Department of Employment, Small Area Labour Markets, December 2013; The London Bullion Market Association (http://www.lbma.org.uk/pricing-and-statistics)

The Goldfields/Esperance ESA’s labour market has possibly been influenced by the decline in gold price. From December 2012, the unemployment rate in the region rose as the gold price declined.

Slide 13 Income support – Goldfields/Esperance ESA (June 2014)

Region Proportion of the working age population (WAP) on

Income support

Income support

change (June 2012- June

2014)

Unemployment benefits

Unemployment benefits change

(June 2012-June 2014)

Coolgardie LGA 14% 24% 7% 52%

Esperance LGA 15% 5% 6% 44%

Kalgoorlie/Boulder LGA 12% 5% 5% 19%

Laverton LGA 12% 22% 7% 43%

Leonora LGA 8% 20% 5% 51%

Ravensthorpe LGA 11% 34% 4% 87%

Goldfields/Esperance ESA

14% 9% 6% 31%

Western Australia 12% 5% 4% 40%

Notes

Source: Department of Employment administrative data, June 2014; ABS, Estimated Residential Population, 2012

In June 2014, the proportion of the population in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA on income support (14 per cent) was slightly higher than the population in Western Australia (12 per cent). The Esperance LGA had one of the largest proportions of its population on income support (15 per cent) and the Leonora LGA one of the lowest (8 per cent).

In the two years to June 2014 there was a 31 per cent increase in the proportion of the population in the ESA on unemployment benefits.

Slide 14 Internet vacancies – Goldfields & Southern WA

Notes

Source: Department of Employment, Vacancy Report, July 2014

In July 2014 there were 890 vacancies advertised on the Internet in Goldfields and Southern Western Australia. These were:

Slide 15 Many families with children under 15 are jobless

Notes

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2011

At the time of the 2011 Census, the proportion of families with children under 15 in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA who were jobless was 14 per cent (800 families). Some 45 per cent (600) of lone parent families with children under 15 in the region were jobless.

Slide 16 Indigenous labour market outcomes - Working age population (15-64)

Region Proportion Indigenous

Unemployment Rate Participation Rate

Indigenous Non -Indigenous

Indigenous Non –Indigenous

Coolgardie LGA 9% 23.3% 5.5% 55.0% 79.5%

Dundas LGA 12% 0.0% 5.3% 35.6% 82.4%

Laverton LGA 25% 9.1% 1.9% 50.7% 96.8%

Kalgoorlie/Boulder LGA 7% 19.7% 3.6% 50.7% 84.5%

Menzies LGA 66% 7.5% 4.3% 31.9% 76.1%

Ngaanyatjarraku LGA 81% 12.2% 0.0% 41.3% 92.5%

Wiluna LGA 21% 32.5% 0.6% 43.7% 95.6%

Goldfields/Esperance ESA 9% 17.4% 3.6% 47.9% 83.4%

Western Australia 3% 17.9% 4.5% 51.7% 78.9%

Notes

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2011

The Indigenous unemployment rate is well above the non-Indigenous unemployment rate in each region.

Slide 17 Youth disengagement - % 20-24 year olds neither studying nor working

Notes

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2011

A larger proportion of females in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA was not studying and unemployed or not in the labour force compared with Western Australia.

Not studying and NILF* Not studying and unemployed

Male Female Male Female

Esperance LGA 8% 22% 9% 4%

Kalgoorlie/Boulder LGA 4% 21% 5% 4%

Goldfields/Esperance ESA 7% 24% 5% 4%

Western Australia ESA 5% 12% 5% 3%

NILF*= Not in the labour force

Slide 18 Levels of educational attainment – Persons aged 25-34 years

% completed Year 12 or higher % attained Certificate III or

higher

2011 2006

Goldfields/Esperance 72% 67% 52%

Western Australia 83% 77% 63%

Notes

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2011 and 2006

At the time of the 2011 Census, a lower proportion of 25 to 34 year olds in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA had completed Year 12 or higher (72 per cent) compared with Western Australia (83 per cent).

The proportion of those who had attained a Certificate III or higher was lower in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA (52 per cent) compared with Western Australia (63 per cent).

Slide 19 Educational attainment and labour market outcomes

Notes

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2011

There is a strong relationship between educational attainment and employment outcomes. For those aged 25 to 34 years in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA, there were high unemployment rates for those who had completed Certificate I and II but not Year 12 (8.6 per cent) and those who had not completed Year 12 and had no further post school qualification (9.1 per cent).

Slide 20 Where will the jobs be in WA?

Notes

Source: Department of Employment, 2014 Employment Projections to November 2018

For Western Australia, it is projected that by 2018 the Health Care and Social Assistance industry will experience the largest growth in employment while the largest decreases in employment will be in the Mining and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing industries.

Slide 21 What are employers telling us?

Slide 22 Recruitment conditions softening

Notes

Department of Employment, Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences, Goldfields/Esperance ESA, February 2014 & November 2010

Since the region was last surveyed (November 2010):

Recruitment activity has decreased significantly

39% employers recruited compared with 72% in 2010

Majority of vacancies filled

Unfilled vacancy rate (2.5%) lower than in 2010 (9.9%)

Recruitment outlook subdued

28% of employers expecting to recruit compared with 54% in 2010

Slide 23 …but employers still had difficulty recruiting for some occupations

Notes

Source: Department of Employment, Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences, Goldfields/Esperance ESA, February 2014

Some 40 per cent of employers in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA had difficulty recruiting in their most recent recruitment round.

Slide 24 Personality traits and employability skills

Notes

Source: Department of Employment, Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences, Goldfields/Esperance ESA, February 2014

Employers in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA viewed the following employability skills and personality traits as essential:

Employability skills:

Customer Service Skills; Interpersonal/Social Skills; Teamwork

Personality traits:

Attitude and Motivation; Reliability, Honesty and Work Ethic; Presentation

Slide 25 Improving Indigenous people’s chances of getting a job –employers’ views

Notes

Source: Department of Employment, Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences, various regions, July 2013 to August 2013

The data in the graph is based on survey results for Rockhampton (surveyed in July 2013), Cairns (July 2013) and Alice Springs (August 2013).

Employers mentioned that the following would help improve Indigenous people’s chances of getting a job:

Slide 26 Almost half employer do not formally advertise vacancies

Notes

Source: Department of Employment, Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences, Goldfields/Esperance ESA, February 2014

Half of recruiting employers (52 per cent) used formal methods to advertise for vacancies (i.e. Internet, Newspaper).

The other half (48 per cent) of recruiting employers used informal methods ONLY to recruit for vacancies (i.e. Word of Mouth, Approached by job seeker).

Slide 27 Single greatest concern for the future

Notes

Source: Department of Employment, Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences, Goldfields/Esperance ESA, February 2014

Over half of employers (55 per cent) in the Goldfields/Esperance ESA reported the economy as the single greatest concern for the future.

Other concerns were:

Recruitment or retention difficulty: 8%

Wages/Costs/Cashflow: 7%

Competition (including high Australian dollar): 2%

Other: 10%

No concerns: 18%

Slide 28 Conclusion

Labour market conditions have been easing

Fewer vacancies Greater competition for jobs More locals unable to find work

Challenges for the region

Manage the transition as Mining sector eases What are the non-Mining opportunities in Kalgoorlie? Disadvantaged groups – Indigenous, disengaged youth, less educated

Opportunities

Opportunities in high turnover industries: Accommodation and Food Services and Retail Trade

Many employers having difficulty recruiting appropriate staff for their business, especially for Community and Personal Service Workers and in some Trades

Local job seekers need to be job ready

Education / training Employability skills Work experience Appropriate job search strategies

Slide 29 Further Information

Notes

If you have any questions about the presentation please contact the Employer Surveys Section or Recruitment Analysis Section on:

Tel: 1800 059 439 or email recruitmentsurveys@employment.gov.au

More information on labour market conditions and other research on small areas can be found on these web sites

www.employment.gov.au/LMIP www.joboutlook.gov.au www.jobsearch.gov.au www.employment.gov.au/skill-shortages www.employment.gov.au/RegionalReports www.employment.gov.au/australianjobs

Thank you.

Slide 30

Australian Government Department of Employment