The Mining Tax proposed by the Labor Government is only just starting to be felt in the employment market as there is significant momentum in the mining and supporting industries. The true bite won't be felt for another couple of months but when it does kick in the effects are likely to be significant.

The problem with the mining tax is two-fold. Firstly the tax itself is very large, complex, poorly explained and is based on a theoretical concept that hasn't been tried anywhere else before. Secondly the way the implementation of the tax has been handled has been disastrous and has left an entire industry hanging in the air. These two factors combine to greatly affect the confidence of the resources sector and as soon as you have falling confidence, you have falling job growth.

The mining tax is a variation on a tax "invented" by Cary Brown in 1948 which was designed to involve a government in high volatility industries - of which mining is a prime example. It meant that in the good times the government would get more tax in exchange for funding a percentage of the startup costs of that industry. In the case of the mining tax in Australia, though, in the good times the government gets more tax in exchange for a promise that when the bad times come the government will write a cheque to the mining companies for 40% of their losses. The government argues that this means that investors in mining should feel 40% safer than they normally do, but the mining companies don't believe that if the economy crashes and the government is in the red they will ever get those cheques. So all they are seeing is an extra 40% tax on their profits and no reduction in their risk which will directly affect how much money they invest in Australia and hence how many jobs there will be.

In addition to this the way the tax was announced undermines the confidence of the mining sector. The tax was announced with great fanfare as to how it would allow an increase in superannuation, a reduction in company tax, and a return to government budget surplus in 3 years. However there was little to no consultation with the industry that will be paying the tax. This means the companies spent a week trying to digest the implications of the tax then once they saw what this meant to them, their investors, and the viability of their projects, they started to panic.

Since this tax was announced we have had a number of our mining clients advise us that they are now only recruiting for existing projects and not looking for people who would be involved in exploration or expansion. This is only having a slight impact on direct recruitment today but the potential long term effects are huge. With no expansion and no exploration there won't be any new mines for people to move to when the existing mines begin to move to end of life. This tax, as it currently stands and in the way it was announced, will not just slow job growth but is likely to cause a significant contraction in employment in the mining sector. A number of employees in the mining sector today won't have a job to go to in the future.

The employment effects will also be felt outside of the mining industry. With no expansions the civil construction companies will lose a significant contributor to their work loads. No new mines means no increasing demand for rail facilities, ports, water, or housing to support them. The knock on from this will be felt right throughout the entire economy.

In summary the mining tax, as it currently stands, will significantly impact employment and jobs growth not just in the mining sector but also in those sectors that have benefited from its growth. The uncertainty around the tax and the level of this tax will see a significant decrease in investment in mining, which means as mines move to end of life we will see people losing their jobs in mining and having to leave the industry. We haven't seen the full effect of this tax on employment yet and what we are currently seeing is just the tip of a very big iceberg.

Skye Recruitment netball team at Corporate Games

The Skye Rockets netball team played well at the QLD Corporate Games on Sunday, winning two matches, and losing two. Unfortunately they did not make the finals, but a plan of action is being formulated for next year! (They would also like to point out that one of their losses was against the over-all competition champions...)

The Corporate Games started in Sydney in 1993 and they have been running for 11 years in Brisbane - more recently as a supporter of the Red Kite charity.

This year more than 107 organisations and 4148 participants competed in sports as varied as netball, rugby, running, and canoeing.

A good day was had by all, and we look forward to the re-matches next year!

Skye Recruitment on BRW 2010 Fast Starters List

Skye Recruitment achieved a place on the BRW 2010 Fast Starters List for the 2nd year running!

The Fast Starters List recognises the 100 fastest growing companies in Australia that started within the last 5 years and achieved minimum turnover figures.

The BRW reports that the 2010 BRW Fast Starters are richer, faster growing, and have higher turnover and more confidence about their success than ever before!

While many companies struggled through a difficult 2009, the 100 companies featured in the list not only made it through the downturn, but got stronger than ever, consolidating and advancing their positions in a hard market.

The total turnover of Fast Starters companies was $546.31m. Owners of the fast-growing businesses were characterised by their strong work ethics, high levels of education, and aggressive plans for growth.

Founders described their biggest issue for the coming year as recruiting good staff, closely followed by managing existing staff.

Founders Sophie and Kye Macdonald are delighted to be included on the BRW Fast Starters List for a 2nd consecutive year.

"2009 was a difficult year for recruitment companies," says Sophie Macdonald. "To have continued to grow at a time when many of our competitors were downsizing or folding, has been a big achievement for us. We have seen business consistently grow each quarter, and we are now recruiting in-house to cope with demand. We look forward to what 2010 and 2011 bring!"

Skye Recruitment came 56th out of 100 in Australia, ranked by turnover, and 6th in Queensland.

Skye Recruitment rattles tins for Make-a-Wish

Happy World Wish Day! Today the Make-a-Wish Foundation celebrates the power of a Wish on a worldwide scale.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation grants Wishes for children and young adults with terminal or life-threatening illnesses.

Skye Recruitment has been proudly supporting Make-a-Wish across the years, and today some volunteers from Skye took to the streets of Brisbane to rattle tins and raise funds. This was also combined with activities and donations in the office, which should further bolster the totals on Wish Day.

On Wish Day we encourage everyone to share the power of a Wish, and support Make-a-Wish through donations, fundraising events, and volunteering.

Skye Founder Named in SmartCompany's Top 30

Skye Recruitment founder Kye Macdonald was named in the SmartCompany's 2010 Hot 30 Under 30 list.

The annual list recognises entrepreneurs aged 30 years or under with businesses billing a minimum of $1m pa in sales.

Common themes between the 30 on the list included:

• 18 of the 30 companies are service companies, mostly niche based;
• A focus toward technology driven business;
• Many companies utilised overseas market knowledge to stay ahead of the local market;
• Most entrepreneurs viewed their age as an asset to entering their market, although most had also experienced reserve from some business partners based on age;
• Most viewed the gathering of market intelligence and listening to customers as critical to their success.

Kye Macdonald says "I hope that this list will raise the profile of those entrepreneurs that are outside the norm and encourage more people to take the chance to build their own businesses. While a young age can be a barrier in some dealings it also means you have the time to learn from your mistakes and to lose everything may not actually mean that much!"

The full article can be read on the SmartCompany website.

Skye Recruitment Civil Consultancy team celebrates quarter 3

The Civil Consultancy team at Skye Recruitment beat other teams to win a celebratory high tea at the Sofitel in Brisbane!

All sectors of Skye Recruitment celebrated the company hitting target for the quarter, but the Civil Consultancy team narrowly beat their "rivals" in Mining, Oil & Gas, and Civil Construction, to take first prize.

High tea was a first for some of the Civil Consultancy gentlemen, who overcame their initial uncertainty about the particular form of celebration (which was voted on by all team members) and are now avowed converts to high tea!

Battle lines have been redrawn for quarter 4, and strong performance from other teams means that Civil Consultancy will now be working hard to win the next challenge...

How to tell if your recruiter is a good recruiter!

One of the most common of the questions that are directed at me when I speak to university students or friends is “How do I know whether the recruiter I'm talking to is a good recruiter?” Unfortunately there isn't a magic bullet that will always tell the good from the bad and the ugly but there are a couple of ways you can make it more likely you are dealing with a good recruiter.

Firstly you don't want a jack of all trades: as the saying goes they are a master of none, and the best recruiter is the recruiter that specialises in your type of work. The best way to determine this is from a recruiter's advertising and how well they can hold a technical conversation with you. Good specialist recruiters will consistently advertise for roles that are similar in nature. At Skye we focus on Construction, Mining, Oil & Gas and Civil Consulting, and you can quickly see that there is a theme to the type of roles we advertise for, be they mining engineers or drafters. This shows you, as a job seeker, the type of people that we specialise in. If that matches your industry and background then that is a good place to start.

The next step is to talk to the recruiter. Just like the advertising a good recruiter will be knowledgeable about the type of work that you do. They may not be capable of doing your job but they should be able to talk about it. They should also know the companies that employ people like you and your chances of finding work. Feel free to ask questions and reassure yourself that they do know the right people and understand what it is that you do. For example if you are a mining engineer you want them to know what a dragline is or what drill & blast means!

Another way to tell the good from the bad is a good recruiter will be putting in a lot of work to find you a new role so they will want you to commit to the job changing process. They will have built good relationships with their client companies and they don't want to waste their clients' time. A good recruiter will also give you a timeline. They should be advising you of when they will be coming back to you with feedback and they should stick to it. A good rule of thumb which applies in our sectors is one week between your first chat with one of our recruiters and when they will be coming back to you with feedback. In a week they will have made the vast majority of approaches on your behalf and should have solid feedback from a number of companies. The process itself will take longer than a week but you should be hearing back from us by this time. If you haven't heard from your recruiter in a week, give them a call. If they have no news for you and nothing specific they are talking to you about it's time to start thinking about looking for a new recruiter because a good recruiter will keep you in the loop.

The final point is that a good recruiter will only ask you to do things that benefit you as a potential employee and not to do things that benefit only the recruiter. The most common example of this is when you are dealing with multiple recruiters and one recruiter tells you to tell all the other recruiters to go away. Why would you want to do this? Too many recruiters can make you look desperate but having more than one recruiter means you will be covering more bases. We would ask you to give us a week before speaking to other agents so that the employment waters aren't muddied and there is a single clear voice speaking to potential employers. But we will never, ever tell you to make the other agents go away. You need to be able to trust your recruiter has your interests at heart.

In summary a good recruiter will:

• Be a specialist

• Be able to talk about your industry

• Give you feedback in a timely fashion

• Keep you informed of what is happening

• Be someone you feel you can trust.