More than a quarter (27 percent) of Australian businesses are having difficulty finding suitable staff, according to survey results released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
ABS Head of Industry Statistics, John Shepherd, said the latest Business Conditions and Sentiments Survey, conducted from 9 to 16 June, showed there were several reasons why employers were struggling to find suitable staff to fill jobs.
“The most frequently reported reason was a lack of applicants (cited by 74 percent of employers), followed by applicants not having the required skills (66 percent), international border closures (32 percent) and job location (29 percent).”
Other factors that made it difficult to find workers included: type of employment being offered (23 percent); pay conditions (18 percent); working days or hours (13 percent); and other employment conditions (11 percent).
Hospitality workers, engineers and tradies all being sought
“Businesses reported having difficulty finding suitable hospitality workers, sales staff, engineering and science professionals and drivers. Other in demand jobs included building trades and business professionals,” Shepherd said.
“The survey also found that 19 percent of businesses reported that, based on current operations, they didn’t have sufficient employees.
“Notable factors influencing staff numbers for these businesses were the inability to find suitable staff (57 percent) and the affordability of additional staff (48 percent).”
Looking forward, 23 percent of businesses expected to increase staff numbers over the next three months. For those anticipating an increase in staff, 61 percent expected the additional jobs to be permanent.
Massive fall in temporary skilled workers is a major factor
In April, the Australian edition of Business Insider reported that the country has seen a 29.1 percent fall in the number of temporary skilled workers; a cohort that, before 2020, represented around 70 percent of Australia’s entire migration program.
Pre-pandemic, more than 2-million temporary migrants in Australia accounted for up to 10 percent of the Australian workforce, predominantly in sectors like construction, healthcare and hospitality.
Earlier this week, Australian business welcomed the changes made to Australia’s Priority Migration Skilled Occupations List by immigration minister Alex Hawke. Hawke announced the addition of 22 occupations, which brings the Priority Migration Skilled Occupations List to 41 in total.
The new additions to the list include accountants, auditors, various engineers, surveyors, cartographers, scientists, programmers and chefs.
