BHP has substantially expanded its Western Australian workforce to 14,118 people, making it the State’s second largest private sector employer, according to Business News Data & Insights.
The total number of employees and contractors on BHP’s books has increased by 18.5 per cent over the past year, from 11,912 previously.
The total was boosted by the group’s decision to hire 1,500 people on 6-month contracts as part of its response to the impact of COVID-19.
Woolworths Group continues to be WA’s largest private sector employer with 16,400 people.
BHP’s growth has put it ahead of fellow miner Rio Tinto, which has 12,930 people in WA.
The vast majority of people at both BHP and Rio work in their Pilbara iron ore business.
Other companies that rank high on the Data & Insights listing of WA’s biggest employers include Wesfarmers (12,351) and Coles (12,500).
To see the full list, go to https://www.businessnews.com.au/bniq/biggest-employers
The new BHP data was part of its economic contribution report.
BHP said it made total payments to the WA government of $2.78 billion over the past year, mostly in the form of royalties.
It also paid $5 billion in taxes to the federal government attributable to its WA operations.
The company said its Pilbara business engaged directly with 9,570 suppliers in FY20, more than double the number in FY19.
This included $110 million with Pilbara suppliers in the five months to August 2020, when BHP was endeavouring to support local communities.
The spending with Pilbara suppliers was up from $57 million in the 5 months to August 2019.
Across Australia, BHP increased its workforce by roughly 5,000 people to 45,000.
The company said the extra jobs were across a wide range of operational roles, including maintenance, production, construction and development.
A big factor in the increase was the 2,000 people in Operations Services, a new unit established by BHP to replace contractors from labour hire firms.
This included the FutureFit Academy, which has 321 apprentices and trainees.
Globally, BHP said its total economic contribution was $US37.2 billion in FY20, down from $US$46.2 billion in FY19.
This included payments to suppliers, wages and benefits to its 80,000 employees and contractors, dividends, taxes and royalties, and voluntary investment in social projects.
The company said its global tax payments equated to an effective tax rate of 33.2 per cent or 42.2 per cent if royalties were included.
