A British based international recruitment company is looking for hundreds of people interested in moving to Australia to work in the country's booming mining industry.
The company, m2r Ltd, with headquarters in Wakefield, has an exclusive partnership agreement with a specialist provider of labour hire and permanent recruitment services to the largest mining and energy companies in Australia.
CoreStaff employs over 1,000 plant operators, trades people, supervisors and professionals on a weekly basis and have offices across Australia.
The agreement will allow m2r to supply qualified British, American, Canadian and Irish nationals within the earthmoving sector who wish to migrate to Australia, to work on lucrative projects in the booming mining industry in the Pilbara area of Western Australia and north and central Queensland.
The opportunities include excellent salary packages and the option to apply for permanent residency after 18 months.
The chief executive officer of CoreStaff Group, Rob Blenkinship, said the firm had reviewed several capable companies to partner with in this region and m2r Ltd was appointed on capability, reputation and cultural fit.
Among the skills they are looking for are qualified diesel fitters and auto mechanics.
But the sector is currently reeling under a blow of fierce criticism following the granting of Australia's first Enterprise Migration Agreement (EMA) that will see a massive boost in the recruitment of overseas workers. Trade unions have said that they will be taking jobs from Australians but the Australian Mines and Metals Association has hit back and accused them of scaremongering over foreign workers.
AMMA chief executive officer Steve Knott said it was time to put an end to the many misleading and inaccurate arguments about the use of skilled migrants.
Knott also pointed out that employers using EMAs had to have training programmes in place for Australian workers, and the first giant to be granted an EMA, Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill project, has committed $20 million and 2,000 training positions.