Rio Jobs
Reporter: Graeme Butler
The Rio-Tinto Juggernaut is rolling into town and it wants four thousand workers NOW for its W.A mining operations. It’s a job campaign like no other targeting 6000 new employees across Australia. It’s a campaign of Olympic proportions and has enlisted some famous Olympians to lead the charge
Rio has 15 billion dollars’ worth of expansions projects in W.A – the jobs its targeting are trades, engineers, planners, geologists and operators. “This announcement brings into reality something we’ve been talking about for a long time and that is there is increasing demand for workers” James Pearson from the Chamber of Commerce and industry says W.A needs to be ready to cope with the massive influx of workers and to offer training to those already here. “We need to train up our young people also look for people who are mid careers who want to change jobs we need to make sure that Australians older Australians women people looking for part time work the indigenous people with disabilities have opportunities we need to encourage folk from the eastern states but we also need to recognise that we need more people from overseas”
There’s no doubt 4000 new jobs in W.A is significant but that’s just the immediate requirements of one mining company. It’s been estimated that in the next ten years WA will need another 500,000 new workers. But massive growth like this will come with challenges as the city swells to meet the demand; James Pearson says we need to start preparing now. “This state will be transformed Perth will be transformed but we won’t realise that full potential unless we have government state and federal working closer with business to make every post a winner”
Picture & Source – Channel 7’s Today Tonight
Today Tonight – Rio Jobs