The Gold Industry Group is celebrating two years since the launch of its Gold Jobs online hub, attracting 160,000 Australians to the unique one-stop-shop of jobs and career-focused information on Australia’s diverse and thriving gold sector.
People in Gold: Meet the workers
As the second largest employer in the mining sector, Australia’s gold industry is a far-reaching sector employing more than 50,000 people across a diverse range of roles, from exploration and mining through to community and environment. With gold production predicated to rise over the next three years as more mines come online and existing operations expand, the opportunities for careers in gold have never been better.
The ground-breaking resource has featured thousands of jobs from 16 leading gold companies since its inception, with recruiters turning their focus to targeted online advertising.
Gold Fields Environment Superintendent Alex Langley
Gold Industry Group Chair Kelly Carter said the initiative played an important role driving a new talent pipeline into the industry and was attracting significant interest.
“Gold Jobs has been a great success since its inception. It continues to drive positive engagement and provides the gold industry with a platform to connect with the wider community and attract a new talent pipeline,” Ms Carter said.
“It’s fantastic to see the unique resource educate about the vast opportunities the gold industry offers, connecting the public to the many diverse roles and programs available.”
As industrial sectors across Australia battle with nation-wide labour shortages, the mining industry is witnessing a re-architecture of talent acquisition. Gold companies are seeing the direct benefit of leveraging digital outreach technology to access a previously untapped skills market.
AngloGold Ashanti Australia Vice President People and Capability Nicola Thomson
AngloGold Ashanti Australia Recruitment Lead Steven Neal said the Company had a long-standing relationship with the Gold Industry Group and viewed it as a key partner in promoting its employer brand and assisting with its talent acquisition strategy.
“In this current skills shortage climate and tight job market the Gold Industry Group’s Gold Jobs website has helped showcase the various roles and opportunities on offer in the gold industry and assisted us in reaching a wider, and more targeted audience by providing an additional employment platform,” Mr Neal said.
Novo Resources Recruitment Advisor Nicole Reweti said the Company had utilised the Gold Jobs website to reach a wider pool of experienced candidates, successfully hiring an Exploration Geologist amid a national shortage of workers, which was exacerbated by COVID-19 restrictions.
St Barbara Drill and Blast Engineer Brian Nguyen
“Exploration Geologists had been extremely difficult to find due to the WA border closures, so it was great that we could complement our own recruiting efforts with traffic via the Gold Industry Group’s Gold Jobs website,” Ms Reweti said.
“By utilising the Gold Industry Group jobs board, we have also been able to link this through to our website so all visitors of our careers site can quickly see our current vacancies.”
The Group’s latest campaign features a “get into gold” video series of interviews with gold industry workers in operations, engineering, geology, IT, human resources, community, environmental science, and more.
The Gold Jobs website also provides resources for students, teachers, and the wider community to learn more about the various employment pathways on offer. Practical features such as the ‘Gold Jobs Quiz’ steers individuals towards roles in the industry based on their interests, qualifications, and experience. Detailed job profiles also offer insight into a range of roles across engineering, drill and blast, geoscience, environmental science, operations, processing, support services, and health and safety. Users can also set up alerts and subscribe to a monthly newsletter.
Gold Jobs is complimented by the Gold Industry Group’s National Gold Education Program, both of which work in tandem to drive the talent pipeline that will support the future gold industry workforce. Since its inception in 2020, the Program has inspired tens of thousands of students at more than 1,300 primary and secondary schools across Australia to pursue a career in the gold industry, with more than 90% increasing their interest.
Australia is the second largest gold producer in the world, and the industry contributed $23 billion to the economy in 2021, furthering the nation’s economic prosperity, providing for hundreds of thousands of workers and their families, and supporting local communities.
Gold Jobs will continue to expand throughout 2022, as gold companies continue to grow and the opportunities for employment in the sector flourish.
Gold Industry Group members featured on Gold Jobs include AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited, Agnico Eagle Mines, Evolution Mining, Gold Fields, Gold Road Resources, Northern Star Resources Limited, Norton Gold Fields Pty Ltd, Novo Resources, Ramelius Resources Limited, Regis Resources Limited, St Barbara Limited, Westgold Resources Limited, Saturn Metals Limited, The Perth Mint, SMS Mining Services and Swick Mining Services.