It depends on why he's interested in ChemEng in the first place, and what alternatives he has. The lack of manufacturing in .au affects all engineering fields, but there are still piles of jobs for ChemEngineers in places like Orica, Dulux etc. If he's choosing between different areas of engineering, then perhaps there might be others that are growing more now (civil?), but if he's keen on chem and is choosing between engineering or science then ChemEng probably offers more opportunities.