Login
iscover
NSW businesses have had to boost pay and improve working conditions to continue attracting skilled workers.
Newsletter
Businesses forced to pay more to retain and attract reliable employees
06 December 2024
•
11 minute read
You’re out of free articles for this month
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Eight in 10 NSW businesses have boosted wages and offered better working conditions over the past year to retain and attract skilled workers.
A recent report by Business NSW found the last 12 months had been a significant battle for SMEs trying to remain competitive in the hunt for reliable labour.
The report, State of Skills 2024, prompted calls for the federal government to accelerate the number of skilled visas and reverse planned cuts to international students.
According to the results, 77 per cent of NSW employers were still facing significant skill shortages, down from 93 per cent in 2022 but above 51 per cent in 2019, pre-COVID-19.
Business NSW CEO Daniel Hunter said finding the right workers remained incredibly challenging for businesses.
“Businesses are bending over backwards to hire and retain staff and that is being reflected in greater wages and better conditions,” Hunter said.
==
==
“To stay ahead, businesses are not only paying a premium but also innovating their approach, with 80 per cent boosting pay or improving conditions. This is up from 12 per cent in 2017 and 47 per cent in 2022.”
“This trend reflects the intense pressure to adapt and secure skilled workers. Businesses are in a lose-lose for workers: they can’t afford to hire people they need and there is not the pool of people to hire from.”
Twenty-eight per cent of employers reported having made five or more attempts to recruit for a specific role in the past 12 months, with no luck securing the position.
Business NSW said to help tackle the issue of the skills shortage, it had called for the government to make significant changes.
Recommended changes included enhancement to TAFE courses, expanded childcare funding, regional access to vocational training, sped up visa processing, and more collaboration with SMEs to create VET programs that met industry needs.
Hunter said 36 per cent of employers in shortage were relying on contractors and external service providers to bridge the gap, while others had resorted to getting ‘back on the tools’.
“The federal government's decision to try and cut the number of international students in 2025 will make things much worse, like we saw during COVID,” he said.
“The federal government needs to accelerate the number of skills visas. We must ensure filling skills shortages are data-driven not politics driven.”
Other major findings from the report highlighted that 75 per cent of businesses in shortage reported an increase in the workload being carried by existing staff, with many business owners having to do the work themselves.
Thirty-nine per cent of employers also said they anticipated significant negative impacts if the skills shortage were to continue.
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.