Services sector saves jobless miners in Australia

Queensland.

Job losses in Australia’s mining industry, particularly in Queensland, have been outstripped by a wave of job creation in every key service sector from tourism to education, a report published Thursday shows.

According to think tank The Australia Institute, while the state miners axed 22,000 positions between 2013 and 2015, health and community services created new jobs for almost double that number of workers.

New hires in education (34,000), tourism-related services (27,000) and professional services (26,000) also more than made up for the decline in resources jobs.

Services sector saves jobless miners in AustraliaTom Swann, co-author of said data confirms the state is experiencing “marked improvements” in terms of job growth.

“Most of the growth has come from services, which already provide four in five jobs in Queensland. These industries are well placed to contribute new jobs in coming years,” Swann said in a statement.

Services sector saves jobless miners in Australia

The key to score the new openings, says CareerMine’s expert, Susan Kihn, is to stay up to date.

“While training can be expensive, if you can afford it, the long term benefits are worth its weight in gold,” she writes. “The more skilled and trained you are, the better it will serve you in your job search because you will be immediately productive without the company having to invest time and money into getting you trained.”

Potential employees don’t even need to travel far to keep abreast of the latest trends, as there are dozens of online courses available these days. Some, such as training and education provider EduMine, also offer scheduled live webcasts and short courses in several areas.

The Australia Institute’s report comes ahead of the Queensland Jobs Growth Summit 2016 will be held next week at Queensland’s Parliament House.