Geoscientists doing well despite pandemic - AIG
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – While employment figures for Australian geoscientists deteriorated in the first three months of 2020, the results have not been as severe as previously feared, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) said on Wednesday.
Unemployment increased to 10% in the March quarter, compared with 7.3% at the end of the December quarter, while under-employment among self-employed geoscientists increased from 13.1% to 18.1% in the same period.
“Widespread speculation that the coronavirus pandemic would have a rapid and dramatic impact on geoscientists employment across Australia, where more than 70% of geoscientists work in mineral and energy resource exploration, mining and production, isn’t borne out by the latest survey results,” said AIG president Andrew Waltho.
“The first quarter of each year is frequently marked by an upturn in unemployment, with exploration fieldwork in particular reduced following the summer holidays and northern Australian wet seasons. We have not to date seen anything like the dramatic downturn in employment associated with the global financial crisis in 2009.”
Waltho said that it was a welcome sign to see that several employers have been able to retain geoscientists, demonstrating a commitment to both their people and business resilience, especially when the proportion of geoscientists employed by small- to medium-sized companies was considered.
“In one sense, the survey results are reassuring in the initial impact on employment of the coronavirus being more muted than many geoscience professionals feared. The potential for more severe impact on employment remains.
“The situation has some way to run, and AIG will now be looking to the June survey to demonstrate how Australia’s minerals and energy exploration and mining industry is coping with the impact of the pandemic.”
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