A recent spate of job losses for Australia’s geologists will have a detrimental effect in the future of the country’s mining industry, Australian Institute of Geoscientists vice president Andrew Waltho told the ABC.
According to the institute, 30% of geologists have lost their jobs since the end of 2008 and more are to follow.
Losing so many jobs so quickly will mean that they are difficult to refill when the mining industry recovers, which will in turn hamper new mines starting up, Waltho said.
“The industry will decline here and competitors overseas will get the business,” he said.
“We will suffer from reduced exports which affects balance of trade.”
The effects will be felt beyond the highly skilled labour areas, Waltho said.
“There are implications for employment in the mining sector in all sorts of trades and professions, skilled and unskilled people,” he said.
“It is a very profound impact.”