A Perth recruitment agency has apologised for posting a FIFO job ad claiming “drillers are hotter and get more Tinder dates” just a fortnight after a parliamentary inquiry into sexual harassment in the resources sector handed down a report critical of the blokey culture on mine sites.
Itch Recruitment removed multiple online listings for apprentice drillers on Thursday, all of which contained the questionable claim alongside promises of a $6720 payday for a single swing.
“It is proven that drillers are hotter and get more tinder dates,” the SEEK ad said, adding prospective hires would know when they were flying home to “get those beers on ice”.
“What will you buy with up to $6720 after your first swing?” the ad ended.
Liberal MP Libby Mettam — who chaired the landmark inquiry — said she was shocked by the language in the job listing.
“It’s disappointing that only two weeks after the release of our report which found clear linkages between sexual harassment, alcohol misuse and gender inequality, that we have a recruitment firm using such suggestive incentives for attracting entry level workers into the industry,” she said.
“It’s clear that to remedy cultural problems and workforce practices in the mining industry, change needs to start at the top.
“Advertisements such as this clearly send the wrong signal regarding workplace characteristics and practices.
“The industry can, and must, do better than this.”
Itch Recruitment removed the ads shortly after being approach by The West, with managing director Jodie Perram — who is listed as “The Big Itch” on the company’s website — issuing an immediate apology.
“It was an error of judgement to include the sentence in our advertisement for Entry Level Driller Apprentices and this has been removed,” Ms Perram said.
“As a female business owner, my team and I fully support the findings and recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry and would never condone violence or harassment in any setting.
“We pride ourselves on our stringent screening processes when recommending candidates to our clients which include national police checks and references.”
The parliamentary inquiry was sparked by a series of shocking reports of sexual assault and harassment on FIFO mines across the State for which West journalist Caitlyn Rintoul was awarded a prestigious Walkley Award.
Its 178-page report detailed multiple instances of female FIFO workers being denigrated and preyed upon by male colleagues, including one woman who was knocked unconscious in her donga and woke to find her jeans and underpants around her ankles.
In another case, a female truck driver subject to a safety investigation was told the probe would “go away” if she had sex with her male supervisor.
It also highlighted that the mining industry — and FIFO in particular — possessed “most if not all of the major risk factors for sexual harassment in the workplace”.
“They include poor culture including the general ‘tone’ of a workplace, especially where incivility is common and accepted as ‘the way we do things here’; acceptance by leaders of poor behaviours; protection of ‘high value’ workers above others; and the misuse of alcohol and drugs,” the report said.
Just days after the report was released a woman working at Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara reported she had been sexually assaulted by a fellow contractor, with a police investigation into the alleged attack continuing.
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