There are times when the sun never sets on Antarctica, but a long-term Australian programme encouraging people to “live the dream” and work in the vast frozen landscape is having to extend a deadline for the project due to a shortage of applicants.
For decades a potential job for adventurous youth seeking to see a part of the world most people never get to, the programme has been going for nearly 100 years, but the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), which each year offers employment stints ranging from six months for a summer season to 16 months that include a winter, said that applications for 2013-2014 fell by roughly 1 000 from last year’s 2 200, and so the deadline is being extended.
Though the reasons for the drop are unclear, Australia’s current mining boom, with its high salaries, is likely to be siphoning off a number of potential applicants, said Rob Bryson, AAD Territories, Environment and Treaties Section Manager. “The people we are targeting are heavily sought after, particularly in the mining and the oil and gas industry, especially trades people,” he said.The average trade salary is approximately ($156 700) compared to a fly-in fly-out miner whose average salary is $209 000.
“We may not offer the same money as the fly-in fly-out miners are getting, but we can offer a breathtaking environment to operate in. Very few people in the history of humanity have actually been to Antarctica,” Bryson said.
(Edited from a Reuters report.)