Skills Shortage Looms for Australian Energy, Mining Industry by Late 2011

Australia’s resources industry faces the threat of a skills shortage by late 2011 to early 2012, especially in Western Australia and Queensland, a government- appointed labor task force said in a report.

Australia has some 75 planned mining and energy projects with a combined value of about A$110 billion, as of April, the National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce said on its website.

Resources projects may be short of 36,000 trades workers by 2015, the taskforce said.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Paton in Sydney at jpaton4@bloomberg.net