Upper Spencer Gulf and Far North recruitment: professional, technical and trade staff

Of the 57 employers in the north and west of the state who answered a national employer survey in the year to August 2026, 49% were recruiting or had recruited in the past month. 39% of those had difficulty filling a role, against 50% across regional South Australia.² Unlike the rest of the state, these employers named the location first, then a lack of applicants, the working conditions or hours, and a lack of suitable applicants.² In the Mid North region, which includes Port Pirie, 47% had difficulty.²

The federal employment plan for the region names a growing shortage of care and support workers, the shift at the Whyalla steelworks and an expected pipeline of projects.⁹ Unemployment of 11.7% in Whyalla and Port Augusta and 9.1% in Port Pirie means local people are looking for work,³ so we start with them and add people prepared to move for the right role.

Whyalla has the largest regional university campus in South Australia, a 22-hectare Adelaide University site with on-campus housing.¹⁶ Graduates who studied there, or at TAFE SA in Whyalla, Port Augusta or Port Pirie, already know the Gulf and the drive between its cities. Tell us who will supervise a graduate engineer, nurse or accountant in their first year, and we talk that support through with them.

The three Gulf cities sit a few hours from Adelaide: Port Pirie about 230 kilometres⁵ and Whyalla about 380 kilometres.¹⁶ Roxby Downs is further north. It had 4,089 residents at 30 June 2025²⁰ and a smoothed unemployment rate of 1.5% in the June quarter 2026,³ so a search may need to reach beyond the town.

For fly-in fly-out and drive-in drive-out work, give us the roster, the departure point and the accommodation, and we build them into the search. For a residential role, tell us where the working day starts and how often the person travels between towns.

Housing and childcare shortages are named as barriers in the region's employment plan.⁹ If you can help with housing, a relocation allowance or a vehicle, tell us, and we raise it early with every candidate who would be moving. If the right person needs a visa or sponsorship, our sister business Australian Immigration Agency can advise.

Experienced tradespeople, engineers, nurses and office professionals, recent graduates and people moving to the Gulf can all register with Hire Australia. Tell us the work you want, the towns you'd work in and whether you'd consider a roster, and we'll talk with you about roles that fit.