I've worked fifo in WA for over 10 years and from my experience there is no labour shortage here now, if anything there's a job shortage. It was waay easier to find a job 3-5+ years ago than what it is now.
The only labour issue I can think of is if these companies aren't paying the right rate to get workers. The average to above average pay rate for jobs would normally be around $45-55 an hour with penalty rates and $60-70 an hour for a flat rate.
There are some 'labour hire' companies that are now offering these same type of positions for $40-$45 flat rate, or even less!
So I don't believe it's an issue with 'not being able to get labour', that's unless they are paying in the bottom quartile of flat pay rates and even then there are still people looking for work. This just seemed like a cop out from management. From past experiences this has been a pretty standard thing to blame on a contractor.
