It has been some time since my last newsletter and I apologise as our market has been "red-hot" and this is the first opportunity I have had to pen my usual market commentary.

Out of interest we have been particularly focussed in the energy/resources sectors as well as the professional services arena both locally and offshore and in particular PNG where the mining and related industries are "sucking up" human capital at a rate I have never seen before. The pacific basin has traditionally found it "challenging" to secure talent in large numbers but this has changed in recent times with candidates now willing to consider an off-shore appointment in a remote location. Destinations such as PNG, the Solomon Islands and Indonesia are now preferred places of employment particularly in the mining sector as talent competes for highly paid roles as well as positions that provide greater employment opportunities.

This aside, my intelligence in the local Queensland jobs market would suggest that we could be heading back to the market "restraint" we experienced last year as there is a general feeling around the commercial sector that "things" have quietened down again. I put this down to the declining sentiment that the proposed mining tax created which coupled with an impending federal election has dampened peoples hiring intentions. Interesting given that the unemployment rate across the board is falling.