Employment levels in mining and resources are well below what they once were, but experts say there are still shortages to be filled.

Recruiting firm Hays has identified a few key employment trends in their new Quarterly Report January – March 2015.

The report found that a steep decline in iron ore prices could see the level of new employment in the industry drop, but key roles such as Electrical and Instrumentation technicians are in shortage due to a big shift over to the oil and gas sector in WA.

Hays analysts plotted a trend that has seen smaller owner operators take over from contract miners and to perform their own mechanical fitting work.

They also say this may be because experienced tradespeople and technicians are sticking to stable employment rather than moving around the job market, resulting in a shortage of tradespeople for shutdowns in particular.

Relatively stable coal prices in NSW have allowed increases in the level of short to medium term contract recruitment for technical experts, Hays says.

Contract work is in fashion in Queensland as well, following many full time redundancies laid out last year. The report suggests the same positions are now being offered to contract miners, so that the same staff can be re-hired under shorter contracts and with different pay and conditions.

The Queensland sector wants FIFO Diesel Fitters, Process Engineers and Mechanical Maintenance Supervisors, while good boilermakers, welders and diesel mechanics are in short supply nationwide.

This comes despite high candidate levels, which the analysts believe shows there are difficulties with finding tradespeople who meet strict company recruitment standards.

South Australia has seen a distinct shortage of Underground Mechanical Engineers and Welding Supervisors, due to many moving over to oil and gas, or to Queensland or WA.

The report found that as most new mechanical engineers appear to be pursuing careers in projects or design, there is a shortage of Reliability Engineers.

Furthermore, companies in NSW are looking for Maintenance Planners for mobile and fixed plant setups to help streamline performance of maintenance crews including Boilermakers and Welders with heavy fabrication experience and Plant Mechanics with underground diesel equipment experience.