Jan 23, 2023
Covid-19 bought the world innumerable challenges. The biggest surprise that was never predicted was a chronic and sustained shortage of staff. “Help Wanted” signs are still the norm in retail stores and hospitality window venues across Australia. A sign in a regional Victorian bakery last year saying “Please be patient, the whole world is short staffed”, summed up the situation up perfectly.
The most common online version of the “Help Wanted” sign – Seek.com – has enjoyed boom times and while job ads on the platform declined 4.9% month-on-month in November, they are still 40% higher compared to November 2019. In a sign of the times however, the number of people applying for jobs on the platform remained lower than pre-pandemic levels. A perfect storm exists of record high vacancies, and a lower than usual number of applicants.
As at November 2022 national unemployment was at 3.4% and in South Australia it was 4.1%. The graph below shows just how low unemployment in Australia is in comparison to levels over the last 12 years.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
So how will 2023 look in light of this?
Deloitte Access economic predicts Australia is at a turning point in the labour market, suggesting a slowdown has begun to emerge which will initially impact blue collar workers first, leaving the white-collar jobs market tight for some time to come.
In South Australia its predicted we will see a gradual easing of the tight employment market over the next 12 months, but there will be no magic bullet for employers. At a national level the Albanese government is working a range of measures to ease the skills shortage including increase the permanent migration cap from 160,000 to 195,000, introducing reforms to childcare subsidies and announcing a range of TAFE subsidised training courses.
At the local level the advice given to employers is by no means ground breaking – but it will put you in the race for your next team member:
- Move fast! Interviews, offers, contracts – make them a priority and wrap each stage up within days, not weeks
- What is your offer? Flexible start/finish times, work from home, employee support, mentoring, on-site parking…. if you aren’t offering some or all of these things you are next in line of choice
- Represent your company well. Websites, office environments, online presence – you will be judged on all of these things and people have choice
- Always be in recruiting mode, even when you are not
It is a great time to be in business in South Australia! The economy is strong and looks to remain so, even in light of global economic headwinds.
But now more than ever it is necessary for employers to invest time implementing effective recruitment strategies with an equal eye on retaining existing staff.
We look forward to seeing what will unfold in 2023!
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