Gold Coast jobs: Businesses where most help is needed
Gold Coast businesses are being held back by ‘chronic’ staff shortages. These are the industries worst affected.
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GOLD Coast businesses are being held back by a “chronic” shortage of staff – made worse by a lack of affordable housing, a leading figure says.
Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce President Martin Hall said the problem was not confined to city’s busy hospitality sector, with businesses of all kinds “restricting themselves” because of the shortages.
“It’s every business that you can think of,” Mr Hall said.
“It’s not easy for them.
“The majority of small businesses are family backed. They’re sponsors of local footy teams and so on.
“But they’re facing chronic shortages.”
Mr Hall, who is chief commercial officer of Burleigh-based bus manufacturer Bustech Queensland, said the business was among those affected, with “gaps in every trade.”
“It’s not just casual or part time tourism and hospitality-based businesses, but everywhere,” he said.
“From manufacturing buses in Burleigh to delivering pizzas in Biggera Waters businesses are not running at 100 per cent.”
According to figures by SQM research, average weekly rent on the southern Gold Coast has soared from $593 to $974 in the last two years.
The average house price has risen from $999,994 to $1,583,787 in the same period.
Mr Hall said the lack of affordable housing on the Gold Coast was a “large part” of the reason for staff shortages.
“Transport costs are traditionally a major factor for workers, so it’s an issue when people are having to move further and further out,” he said.
“When you have someone who is working in Burleigh but finds a place in Yatala or northern Pimpama, it’s just giving them a reason not to come in.”
Mr Hall said there needed to be a “concerted effort” from government to make more affordable housing available.
He also called for an increase in the number of working holiday visas issued.
Mr Hall’s comments regarding staff shortages are backed up by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data which shows the number of vacancies nationwide hit a record high of 3.2 per cent in September.
The figures show the number of vacancies surged between March 2020 and September last year in healthcare, manufacturing and real estate.
However ABS Head of Statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the greatest rate of increase was in hospitality.
“The accommodation and food services industry saw the largest increase in the share of jobs that were vacant, increasing from 1.2 per cent in March quarter 2020 to 5.1 per cent in the September quarter 2022,” Mr Jarvis said.
The worker shortage has also led to rising wages, with employment marketplace SEEK reporting a 4.4 per cent annual rise in advertised salaries in the 12 months to November last year.
“This remains a very tight labour market, with the unemployment rate at a near 50-year low and job ads still well above pre-Covid levels,” SEEK Senior Economist Matt Cowgill said.
“... Businesses are in a bidding war for talent.”
Originally published as Gold Coast jobs: Businesses where most help is needed
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