Perthruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Iron ore & mining
BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue, Mineral Resources, Roy Hill
Perth is the corporate and technical head of Australian iron ore — every major producer runs its Pilbara operations from an office in the Perth CBD, including remote operations centres that drive driverless trains and trucks 1,500km away.
LNG, oil & gas
Woodside Energy, Chevron Australia, Shell Australia, Santos
Woodside's global head office is here, and the North West Shelf and Gorgon projects are run from St Georges Terrace. Subsea and offshore engineering is a deep local specialisation.
Mining equipment, technology & services
Austmine members, Imdex, Orica, Micromine, Newmont technical services
The METS sector is where most of Perth's software and engineering employment actually sits — automation, geoscience, drilling technology and remote operations tooling exported worldwide.
Defence & shipbuilding
Austal, Civmec, BAE Systems, ASC, Henderson Defence Precinct
The Henderson precinct south of Fremantle and the submarine rotational presence at HMAS Stirling on Garden Island are driving a long-run build-up in trades, engineering and security-cleared roles.
Critical minerals & battery materials
IGO, Pilbara Minerals, Albemarle, Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia
WA supplies a large share of the world's lithium, and downstream refining at Kwinana and Kemerton has created a processing and chemical engineering workforce that did not exist a decade ago.
Higher education & research
University of Western Australia, Curtin, Murdoch, Edith Cowan, CSIRO
Curtin and UWA anchor radio astronomy work for the Square Kilometre Array in WA's Murchison region, alongside large mining and health research programs.
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