Business lobby plead for radical employment changes

The business lobby is pleading for a radical change in employment rules to alleviate staff shortages as everything from chicken breast to paracetamol disappears from shelves.

The business lobby is pleading for a radical change in employment rules to alleviate staff shortages as everything from chicken breast to paracetamol disappears from shelves.

Fresh produce such as steak, chicken breast and carrots continue to be hard to come by – but shortages have now moved on to pain killers and pet food.

Industry heads have warned that the situation will only worsen as we head towards a peak of omicron cases unless something is done.

Paracetamol and ibuprofen have flown off shelves as people prepare to deal with the effects of Covid, while wet and dry cat food has now joined the list of items difficult to find.

Panic buying of toilet paper has made a return and rapid antigen tests are still scarce.

Empty shelves in the toilet paper section at Woolworths in South Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis

Employer association AI Group chief executive Innes Willox yesterday called for all visa holders in Australia to be temporarily allowed to work so businesses could replace staff who were sick or in isolation.

“Businesses in food and logistics are reporting that 10 to 50 per cent of their workers are sick or in isolation,” Mr Willox said.

“To give this perspective, if 20 per cent of our entire workforce was isolated or sick that would equate to around 2.6 million workers.

“This temporary change to visas could be introduced immediately and reviewed when the Omicron outbreak passes its peak. This crisis should force us to think creatively about rules and regulations to identify ways to get all hands on deck in critical sectors.”

He said the decision must be made at today’s National Cabinet meeting to ensure a consistent nationwide approach.

A sign notifying the public of supply chain issues in the meat section of Coles in South Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis

Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano warned that there could feasibly be no food on shelves within three weeks if supermarkets and suppliers ran out of capacity to test their staff.

She said food shortages were different in every store across the state, with some low on meat and others low on vegetables due to supply issues and rules being introduced by chains.

But she said logistics was not the only problem.

“Now we have so many abattoirs either shut or doing reduced hours, same with truck drivers, and for those who are working there is a general fatigue,” Ms Germano said.

“I spoke to one abbatoir owner this morning who was saying to me they normal have 150 staff on the floor at any given time and they shut because they were down to about 15 staff and the majority are in isolation, not positive with the virus.”