State of the Nation (Jobs Wise)

Hi folks,

I am currently debating in my mind whether or not I should travel down under (yes aussie land) to work there for a while. Could anybody give me an idea of what things are like "down under". I am an Allen Bradley guy with a bit of Mitsubishi PLCs as well. SCADA wise I have Wonderware Intouch and RS View. Are these popular down under?? Should I brush up on some other packages??

Any feedback would be very much appreicated.

Thanks.

Gday Contrologix

AB is the most popular PLC on the sites I have worked but Modicon and GE Fanuc are "trendy" as well but you will find all brands.

Citect www.citect.com is most common plc scada as it talks to any plc and is oz company.

DCS systems rule the roost Fisher Rosemount, Yokogowa and Honeywell.

I live in the state of Western Australia where mining/mineral processing is el supremo. Gold, Nickel, Aluminia, Iron Ore, Gas&Oil.

There is plenty of work for good tradespeople and engineers in this sector and you generally get paid more money. Downside is WA is bigger in land size than the UK and Ireland put together, there is only 2 million odd people and mostly these processing plants are out in the "bush" where there is nothing but red dirt, flies and kangaroos, so you fly in and out on 2 week on 1 week off type roster.

But on the other side of the country I believe there is more manufactoring type work, perhaps BobB or someone from that side will fill you in.

I have a mate from the UK emmigrating here, so I could give info what visas you need if want to work etc.

I am in Sydney. I design systems, build control panels and programme PLCs and SCADA systems. AB are big with most of the international companies and many of the local companies. Omron generally dominate the emergency power business and are very big in water and sewage treatment along with Hitachi. Schneider are getting bigger but have their own engineering section and compete with their customers. The Hitachi distributor NHP does the same. This does not endear either of them to we systems integrators. Mitsubishi and many others have their own followers. Siemens are not all that big and have retracted their business but also compete with systems integrators.
Citect SCADA is definately the most popular although AB sell their RSView, InTouch, Wizcon, Fix etc are all present and have a fair following.
DDC is mainly Honeywell, Johnson, Alerton and other large companies. There are smaller companies around doing OK also but without much building work it is very competitive. A lot of companies are looking to PLC/SCADA solutions due to the "extras" tactics and high prices of many DDC people. Let's face it, PLCs are DDC also and there is no reason for them not to become very popular in the future for building management. Citect have a facilities software that is opening a lot of doors. The PLCs are invariably dearer to start with due to the high cost of noise resistant industrial strength analogues but are way cheaper down the line when customers require changes to the system. Many companies are now waking up to this.
Business has generally been pretty quiet. There has been very little happening in the Eastern states since the Olympics, and, in fact, many of the hotels are being turned into apartment blocks. The .com bubble was good for all of us but has definately burst but there is work around for enterprising and experienced people.
beerchug

Thanks guys for the reply. I have just downloaded the 65mb demo version of CITECT which I will try out over the next few weeks!! There doesn't seem to be a bleak picture out there so hopefully I will be spending christmas in the sun!!

Thanks.