Planning for resources growth in the Pilbara: Employment & population projections to 2020

Abstract:

This report updates resource related employment and population projections completed in July 2008, coinciding with the onset of the global financial crisis. The projections are generated from what is now a broader range of company inputs on expansion plans, again supplemented by public data sources for non-PICC member projects. The results from the current analysis suggest that companies operating in the Pilbara are emerging from the impacts of the crisis with stronger investment and production intentions than underpinned the July 2008 projections. The strongest projected employment growth is in FIFO: current projections in 2015 and 2020 are some 10,300 and 16,000 higher than the July 2008 projections. The projected changes in resident workforce produce Pilbara population projections that are also above those generated in July 2008 (ES2). The projections are meant as a proxy for the ABS Estimated Resident Population (ERP) count. They are some 5,400 and 10,600 respectively above the previous projections for 2010 and 2015.