Hiring optimism in Mining and Construction has fallen for the fourth quarter, mirroring the overall Australian Net Employment Outlook which stands at its weakest level in two years, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

In the Mining and Construction sector, 29 per cent of companies expect to increase hiring (a decrease from 34 per cent last quarter), while 13 per cent plan to decrease hiring (up from 10 per cent in the third quarter).

As a result, the Net Employment Outlook for the sector has dropped 10 percentage points to +15 per cent, its lowest point since 2009.

Mr Lincoln Crawley, Managing Director of Manpower Group Australia and New Zealand said the sector has been dealt some blows in recent times which have inevitably affected employer confidence.

“With carbon tax and resource tax worries, higher export costs and volatile commodity pricing impacting supply and demand, it?s not surprising companies in mining and construction are looking to play it safe for the fourth quarter,” said Mr Crawley.

“The mining and construction sector has been heralded as the superhero of the Australian economy. But it's wrong to assume past strong performance makes the sector immune to the impact of global uncertainty and challenges to profitability that come from the resources and carbon taxes.”

Mr. Crawley said there were still many resources projects going through approvals and early stage development, despite the uncertainty.

“We're still seeing big projects break through, like Chevron?s $25 billion Wheatstone project in Western Australia, one of the biggest resources projects on record. There are also four major CSG to LNG projects gathering momentum in Queensland.”

“It would be a mistake to assume that the skills drought is over,” he said.According to Mr Crawley, the drop in hiring optimism has little impact on the skills shortage, with the most in-demand skills still required and still just as rare.

“The largest resources projects are still full steam ahead. So while across the board mining and construction companies might be pulling the reigns in on hiring, the largest resources companies are looking to hire more than ever. So we have a smaller number of companies looking to hire an increasing number of people.”

Mr Crawley said heavy duty fitters for mobile plant, mechanical fitters for fixed plant, electrical and mine engineers, drillers and project managers are all still in extremely high demand.