Keeping teams in a steady stream of work is highly desirable,...

Keeping teams in a steady stream of work is highly desirable, rather than continually scrambling for employees to meet contracted commitments, and ditching employees in slack times. This is one of the reasons why Management should selectively solicit contracts to optimise the deployment of teams and equipment, rather than respond to every tender that is announced.

I underlined “solicit”, which I had changed from “tender for” to emphasise that the process should be proactive, rather than waiting for tenders to be issued, and only then reacting.

We shall see how this mining-cum-infrastructure boom plays out. Pundits say it will be more controlled than the previous boom.

On your PA being upskilled, the more tickets employees have, the easier it is to keep them gainfully employed. In the 1960s my cousin worked first as an unskilled labourer in a paper mill in the north of Canada, then during his first mid-winter break, he did what his workmates did, he went to Vancouver and got himself a trade ticket as a welder. In a subsequent mid-winter break, he obtained a mill wright's ticket. The need for mill wrights was infrequent, but critical, so my cousin never experienced unemployment, because paper mills justified employing him as a welder, a steady requirement, and they switched him to installing and repairing heavy machinery when required. He worked hard and consistently, and retired circa 2000 as a wealthy man, partly due to marrying a woman who was smart with money.