Insights and Insider News

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…

Finding a recruitment partner that understands your industry, screens candidates properly, and takes the compliance burden off your plate means you’ve found the best labour hire agency for trades. At TRS Resourcing, we’ve been placing trade qualified technical blue collar candidates with businesses in Victoria, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth for a long time now and…

Recruiting for Permanent trades in Australia takes around six to eight weeks from the initial brief through to a candidate’s start date when the process runs well. Specialist roles, a tight market and positions requiring specific licences, tickets or experience can take longer. For employers, getting a permanent trade hire right starts before the interview….

  Every week a hard to fill role sits open, you know it’s costing you more and more, and posting the same ad to another job board isn’t the fix. If you’re trying to fill a hard to fill industrial role in 2026, the fastest path is matching the right engagement model to the role,…

Two boilermakers. Same qualification. Same city. One is earning noticeably more than the other. Sound familiar? Trades salaries in Australia are based on a combination of factors that have nothing to do with how hard you work. Understanding what drives your rate is one of the most useful things you can do for your career….

Of all the questions that come up in an interview, this is the one candidates ring us about a lot. And it’s usually because the real answer feels messy, or unfair, or like something that’ll count against them the second they say it out loud. Let’s take the pressure out of it. Here’s what employers…

If you’re running a fabrication workshop or a heavy vehicle build shop, you probably know the answer to this question isn’t “post the ad and wait.” Trade qualified boilermakers, aluminium welders and mechanical fitters are some of the hardest people to find in Australia, the shops that need them tend to be the ones with…

The latest Australian Industry Group Outlook for 2026 makes uncomfortable reading, but none of it should surprise anyone running a business. With costs climbing, regulation tightening, and workforce pressures haven’t eased, they’ve hardened into a new operating reality. The businesses TRS work with in manufacturing, construction, logistics, and the trades are recalibrating. However, are they…

You’ve spent your career in a workshop, field service can sound like the dream. No foreman standing over your shoulder. No production line of the same engine coming through the bay. Just you, a service truck, and the job in front of you. The reality is close to that but there’s more to it than…

It’s one of the most common conversations mechanical fitters have when they’re weighing up their next career move. Shutdown work pays well and sometimes better than day-to-day plant roles. But it’s inconsistent, and that inconsistency has a real cost depending on where you are in life. Permanent plant maintenance roles offer something different: predictable income,…