Great resignation hits SA businesses already struggling to find staff

The “great resignation” that has swept the world since the onset of Covid-19 is hitting SA businesses, which are already struggling to find staff.

The “great resignation” that has swept the world since the onset of Covid-19 appears to be hitting home in South Australia, amplifying the labour shortages currently being felt across the local economy.

Research undertaken by BankSA reveals more than two in five small businesses have had employees resign over the past 12 months, up from a third that reported employee departures in October.

More than a third of small businesses have attempted to hire new staff but have been unable to find suitable candidates.

The research is based on a survey of 300 small business owners and managers conducted in February.

It shows a large increase in the number of small businesses facing labour shortages, rising from 46 per cent in October to 58 per cent in February.

A reduction in the number of skilled migrants from interstate and overseas, and the lure of higher wages and more flexible working arrangements in other industries were cited as the main reasons for the current shortages.

BankSA state general manager business David Firth said it was an issue facing employers across a wide range of industries.

Lucas TCS general manager civil Rick Walsh, left, with executive director Ben Lucas. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“Recent record low unemployment, along with ongoing impacts from the pandemic, is creating more movement amongst employees,” he said.

“The pandemic has been highly disruptive for employees, with changes to how and where work is done – bringing opportunities for some with their current employers, while others have decided to seek other opportunities.

“Clearly roles available in other industries paying higher wages and offering better working conditions are significant factors in contributing to the movement of employees.”

More than half of respondents to the survey said business owners, managers and staff had been forced to work longer hours as a result of the staff squeeze, while close to half had responded by increasing their prices.

When asked what initiatives would help deliver a stronger pipeline of skilled labour, respondents were most supportive of incentives for businesses and individuals to further develop their skill base, and a greater emphasis on STEM subjects at school.

Civil construction and mining services company Lucas TCS employs more than 400 staff across the country from its head office in Darlington.

On the back of a series of major project wins the company is actively recruiting for 50 to 100 engineers, mechanics, project managers and other roles, primarily across SA, Western Australia and Northern Territory.

But according to executive director Ben Lucas, it is a struggle finding suitably qualified candidates.

“There’s a lot of work on, the mining industry’s very buoyant, and it’s pretty much all about equipment and staff availability,” he said.

“Probably the hardest roles to fill are the project management, site engineers, quality engineers, those types of roles. And then probably behind that diesel fitters - there’s a massive shortage of diesel fitters, machinery maintenance personnel.

“Even on the ground, with experienced plant operators and the like, we’re having to start with inexperienced people and train them up.”

Mr Lucas said it wasn’t only finding new workers that was proving a major challenge in his industry, with intense competition for skills making it harder to retain existing staff.

“There’s a lot of competition for good people, so a lot of staff have had money thrown at them to try and entice them to move,” he said.

“I think also the great resignation is a bit of a thing as well. People have maybe gone into retirement a little bit earlier and gone for lifestyle more than work.”

Mr Lucas said an increase in skilled migration would be critical to bridging the current skills gap, while in the longer term more needed to be done to attract students into technical and engineering careers.

“Years ago we used to be able to get engineering graduates coming out of university relatively easy, but they just don’t seem to be around at the moment.”