Labour shortages hurting four in ten employers: NAB

Firms have scant confidence that problems in securing workers will be solved in the coming 12 months.

Construction firms are having the most trouble finding staff, an NAB survey shows. Picture: Colin Murty

Nearly four in ten Australian employers say a lack of available labour is having a “very significant impact” on their businesses, and have scant confidence the problems securing workers will be solved in the coming 12 months.

A special survey of about 1600 firms by the country’s biggest business lender, NAB, revealed that the problem was most acute in the hermit state of Western Australia, where 44 per cent of respondents said trouble getting staff had made a significant effect on their operations over the past three months.

This compared to about 35 per cent of respondents in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, and only 24 per cent in Tasmania.

The closed domestic and international borders were cited as a primary reason for worker shortages.

The NAB survey revealed a “clear message” on how firms believe staffing issues could be addressed, with 56 per cent of respondents demanding domestic borders restrictions be lifted (82 per cent of WA firms) and 52 per cent saying the end of international travel bans was the key.

While Australia reopened its border to vaccinated foreigners in December, the collapse in migration has left a deficit of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers versus before the pandemic, while movement between states remains fraught or outright banned, as is the case in Western Australia.

Both the government and Opposition say they are committed to restarting the country’s migration program, but have placed the emphasis on providing more training in a bid to get as many Australians as possible to take up a glut of job opportunities.

Employers in roughly equal proportions told the NAB survey that increased apprenticeships and training (47 per cent) and a higher migrant intake (45 per cent) was the best solution to worker shortages.

By industry, the strain of worker shortages was most intense in the construction industry, where close to half of all respondents said a scarcity of workers was a “very significant” drag on operations. Trade workers and professionals were the most commonly reported labour shortages.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said “government must be more ambitious in driving up the skilled migration intake, growing the economy and creating more jobs for all Australians.”

“We cannot afford to lock ourselves up and throw away the key,” Mr McKellar said.