Archive for September 2026

The Melbourne recruitment market is improving, and at TRS we’re hiring across more desks than we’ve had going in a long time. But I’m not going to pretend it’s been a straight line. Industrial recruitment in Melbourne put TRS through a very tough 18 months to two years before this one, and I made a…

  I get asked about the diesel mechanic hourly rate in Melbourne more than nearly any other question, and for good reason. If you’re trade qualified and you’ve been sitting on the same number for two years, you want to know what the market is paying before you go anywhere. So here’s what we’re seeing…

A couple of weeks ago I put out a short video saying the Melbourne recruitment market is improving. I had a few people reach out asking what I meant by that, so here’s the detail. The clearest indicator I’m watching is diesel mechanic pay rates in Melbourne, because rates tend to move before anything else…

If you want to reduce time to hire for an industrial role, fix the four things sitting inside your control: the quality of your brief, your pay benchmark, the speed of your decision process, and the engagement model you choose. The market won’t fix them for you. Last month we published a guide on whether…

The highest paying jobs in Australia that don’t require a university degree are trade qualified roles in mining, resources and heavy industry. SEEK puts heavy diesel fitters at $155,000 to $175,000 and lists the role as the top typical salary across its Mining, Resources and Energy category at $170,000. That’s more than most degree qualified…