Despite the threat of another global contraction due to the European debt crisis, employment prospects in Australia's mining industry continue to be high. To address the manpower shortage in the booming sector, employers have become creative in attracting the best talents from other industries.

In the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, 32 per cent of employers in Australia and New Zealand's mining and construction sectors said they plan to hire more people in 2012 versus 12 per cent that plan to downsize their manpower pool.

Lincoln Crawley, managing director of ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand, identified the jobs likely to be in high demand as technical managers, mining engineers, maintenance superintendents, environment engineers, study managers in ports and rail operations, electrical tradesmen and electrical engineers.

"Head hunting is still very active, and many workers are keen to hear what's on offer from other companies. Employers therefore need to be provided a compelling employment offer that combines financial and lifestyle benefits, with long-term incentives such as share plans, which encourage employees to stay loyal," Mr. Crawley said in a statement.

The 2012 outlook, however, is slightly less optimistic compared to Manpower's 2011 report which came out with a Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of +19 per cent compared to a +27 per cent NEO the previous year.

However, it is still stronger compared to the manufacturing and retail sectors which logged NEOs of +6 per cent and +7 per cent, respectively for 2012 versus +19 per cent and + 21 per cent in the previous year.

To address the continued shortage, the Association of Mining and Exploration (AMEC) urged the Gillard government to amend its skilled immigration policy or face losing smaller mining projects.

AMEC Chief Executive Simon Bennison particularly pointed to the provision in the new enterprise migration agreements that only projects worth over $10 billion would enjoy faster and easier access to overseas workers.

A similar call was made by the Queensland Resources Council which projected the vacant jobs in the state's mining sector could reach 35,000 positions in the next two years.

In Western Australia (WA), mining leaders shared the same concern of lack of skilled workers. Gina Rinehart, the country's richest woman, estimated the shortage to 150,000 positions. Other mining executive, who took part in a panel discussion in October on Australia's business hubs for the next 100 years, also pointed to the lack of infrastructure as affecting the country's competitiveness in the global arena.

With the migration solution seen as a long-term one and a politically volatile situation depending on which party is in power, Queensland mines are in the meantime pirating workers from the banking and retail sectors to fill up vacancies besides hiring overseas workers for mining projects at Mt Isa, Mackay, Gladstone and Toowomba.

Other creative solutions to address the shortage include flying in workers.

On Monday, Qantas announced that its regional carrier QantasLink and its newly acquired charter unit Network Aviation would add 14 jets in the next 12 months to fly-in and fly-out workers in states which need mining employees. Qantas is initially focusing on providing the service in WA, but plans to grow the market in other states too.

Currently, Qantas's fly-in and fly-out service runs between 800 to 1,200 hours a year. To further meet the requirements of resources companies, Qantas and QantasLink secured the Basic Aviation Risk Standard accreditation, a safety audit system introduced by the Flight Safety Foundation to assure miners that the air carriers meet global benchmarks.

Similarly, mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) made available beginning Jan 9 a fly-in, fly-out service four times a week from the Sunshine Coast Airport to Clermont, Central Queensland. The service was made possible after Rio signed a long-term contract with airline Skytrans.

Another major Australian mining firm, BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) is also considering offering similar fly-in and fly-out services to connect the company to the Sunshine Coast which would serve as recruitment point for mining companies rather than having the future mine workers shoulder the cost of travel to Brisbane.

This solution applies not only to those directly involved in mining but also indirectly such as fast food workers. McDonald's admitted suffering from manpower shortage in Queensland while KFC uses 457 visas for migrants to fill up management posts in its Queensland stores.

Also being flown in and out of mining towns in Queensland and WA are sex trade workers, who reportedly earn more money than miners.

Australian Mining quoted The Sunday Mail report that female prostitutes earn up to $2,000 daily in these mining towns by charging $250 an hour per client. The women stay in motels and caravan parks.

As a result, medical workers also reported a boom in spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among both prostitutes and mining workers. The Australian Medical Association in WA blamed the boom town mentality behind the rise in STD cases as the highly paid miners seek other ways to spend their salaries.