AIG, in 2008, commenced a series of surveys to monitor the impact of the global economic downturn on geoscientist employment throughout Australia. These surveys provided valuable data that was used by AIG in conjunction with other industry groups to track the impact of the downturn in exploration and mining geoscience employment, and the subsequent recovery of employment as economic conditions improved.
The global economic downturn was followed by a boom in resource industry activity which created robust employment conditions for several years, Recently, however, threats to Australia’s resource industries have emerged in the form of intense uncertainty regarding both the European and U.S. economy, whether China will be able to sustain high levels of economic growth, coordinated action by environmental groups against new resource development projects and, significantly, a growing tide of resource nationalism in which governments are seeking to increase revenue from mining projects or secure future, domestic access to resources, both of which could depress mineral and energy production by removing incentives to develop new mines.
AIG is maintaining a close watch on developments but needs “hard data” that only professional geoscientists can provide to ensure representations to government and other groups are supported by timely, relevant information. Your assistance in completing this survey, when it is run on a regular basis, is critical to this.
The previous survey, three months ago at the end of 2012 showed signs of a deterioration in employment opportunities for Australian geoscientists. Since then, anecdotal evidence suggests that these first signs have been followed by widespread retrenchments as both mineral and coal exploration activity in particular enter a period of pronounced downturn.
These surveys provide AIG with concrete evidence of the employment prospects facing geoscientists in Australia. We encourage all AIG members to complete the survey and to recommend it to their colleagues. The more people who contribute, the more reliable and authoritative the survey results.
The survey only takes a few minutes to complete. No personally identifiable information is collected. A few minutes of your time can help make a real contribution to your profession.
Click here to complete the latest survey.
The survey will remain open for contributions throughout April 2013.
