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1. R Tonge | 18 February, 2010 at 10:23 AM
   Yes.. who are they hiring? When the recession hit last year, I and dozens of fellow staff / contractors engaged in front end engineering / design were let go from one company alone. The only Australian work I have had since was a short stint for Kevin Rudd's BER! Mining / engineering companies who advertise positions as available don't even bother replying to applications (apart from computer generated responses)and employment agents can't even secure an interview for me. I am told that there a heck of a lot of people 'on the ground' looking for the same jobs. I have trade qualifications as well as engineering qualifications, and am good at whatever I turn my hand to. It is hard for me to believe that there is a skills shortage here in NSW Hunter valley at least. What am I doing wrong?
2. n.marshall | 18 February, 2010 at 08:48 AM
   Who are they hiring !! well it's not women ! I have been pursuing a position in the mines as a dump truck driver for a nearly 2years now and still none of the mining companies accept me and I am not expecting the over paid wages I just want a chance to get my foot in the door...Mr. Micheal Roche states if the Qld & WA mining starts competing for skill mines workers there will be a shortage and then goes on to state we will have to look at meeting the demand as it was critical to tap into the under-utilised FEMALE workforce as well as the " careful employment of migrant workers" .I am true blue aussie and was devastated to hear this after how long I have been pursuing a career in the mines . I am not a racist but if I am not offered a job and migrants are?? Fair Go!! and not happy Mr. Roche!!! Is Clive Palmer going to give me a mining job????
3. Ignats Horvatz | 30 January, 2010 at 06:41 AM
   When you use the phrase "labor shortage" or "skills shortage" you're speaking in a sentence fragment. What you actually mean to say is: "There is a labor shortage at the salary level I'm willing to pay." That statement is the correct phrase; the complete sentence and the intellectually honest statement. Some people speak about shortages as though they represent some absolute, readily identifiable lack of desirable services. Price is rarely accorded its proper importance in their discussion. If you start raising wages and improving working conditions, and continue doing so, you'll solve your shortage and will have people lining up around the block to work for you even if you need to have huge piles of steaming manure hand-scooped on a blazing summer afternoon. And if you think there's going to be a shortage caused by employees retiring out of the workforce: Guess again: With the majority of retirement accounts down about 50% or more, most people entering retirement age are working well into their sunset years. So, you won’t be getting a worker shortage anytime soon due to retirees exiting the workforce. Some specialized jobs require training and/or certification, again, the solution is higher wages and improved benefits. People will self-fund their re-education so that they can enter the industry in a work-ready state. The attractive wages, working conditions and career prospects of technology during the 1980’s and 1990’s was a prime example of people’s willingness to self-fund their own career re-education. There is never enough of any good or service to satisfy all wants or desires. A buyer, or employer, must give up something to get something. They must pay the market price and forego whatever else he could have for the same price. The forces of supply and demand determine these prices -- and the price of a skilled workman is no exception. The buyer can take it or leave it. However, those who choose to leave it (because of lack of funds or personal preference) must not cry shortage. The good is available at the market price. All goods and services are scarce, but scarcity and shortages are by no means synonymous. Scarcity is a regrettable and unavoidable fact. Shortages are purely a function of price. The only way in which a shortage has existed, or ever will exist, is in cases where the "going price" has been held below the market-clearing price.