Welcome Improvement in Australian Geoscientist Employment

Professional Associations, Institutes & Societies

Date posted: 05/26/17

Employment prospects for Australia embattled geoscientists improved during the first quarter of 2017 according to the latest Australian Geoscientist Employment Survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Geoscientists during April. Unemployment among geoscientists during the survey period was 12.1%, down from 14.4% in the fourth quarter of 2016. Underemployment (geoscientists unable to secure their desired level of self employment) was 18.3%, down from 19.5% in the previous quarter. The real unemployment rate (unemployed geoscientists and underemployed geoscientists able to achieve less than 25% of their desired workload was 21.7%, down from 24.5% in the final quarter of 2016. The proportion of geoscientists seeking to leave their profession to seek work fell from 11.4% in the final quarter of 2016 to 7.9% in the latest survey. An improvement in both unemployment and underemployment has now been evident in three of the past four surveys, supporting anecdotal evidence of a modest upturn in industry activity evident over the past year. The unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2016 was 19.5% and the corresponding underemployment rate was 23.4%. On a state by state basis, the unemployment rate ranged from 6.9% in New South Wales and the ACT to 14.8% in Queensland. The underemployment rate was lowest in Victoria at 10.7% and highest in South Australia at 28.6%. The unemployment rate fell in every state except Queensland, where it increased by almost 2% during the first quarter of 2017. Underemployment fell in every state. Full-time, part-time and self-employment rates remained similar to those observed in the previous survey, at 77%, 5% and 18% respectively. Some 59% of survey respondents work, or seek work in mineral exploration, 16% in metalliferous mining and 7% in energy resource (coal, oil and gas) exploration and production. Long-term unemployment remains a real concern.