ECONOMIC uncertainty and employers’ caution in their recruitment decisions have brought the labour supply-demand numbers to their closest level in nearly a decade, according to the Clarius Skills Index.
The quarterly index from recruitment supplier Clarius Group provides an analysis of labour demand and supply, using data supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
According to the June Quarter data released this week, the overall demand for skilled labour fell by 56,800 people (1.6 per cent) while supply fell 44,700 people (1.3 per cent).
This resulted in a net shortage of 1,000 skilled people across 20 occupation categories in the quarter, compared with the March Index, which reported a shortfall of 11,000 skilled workers across all occupation categories.
Clarius Group COO Kym Quick said that, based on the data, employers appeared to be erring on the side of conservatism when it came to recruiting new staff.
“As a result of the global economic situation and uncertainty about our own economy, which has been compounded by the carbon tax debate and stalk of interest rate rises, we are seeing employers pull back on their hiring intentions,” she said.
Ms Quick said while the skills gap had closed, it was likely to re-emerge in the coming quarters.
“While employers don’t consider the impacts of the carbon tax to be immediate, they do recognise it to be an important factor in future hiring patterns,” she said.
“However, it will likely create new jobs in the future and add pressure on the availability of skilled labour.”
Ms Quick said she expected the carbon tax and later a carbon-trading scheme would see a significant boost in demand for accountants, auditors and other professional service providers.
The occupations currently experiencing shortages of skilled labour as outlined in the June Quarter included metal tradespersons (shortfall of 10,900), automotive tradespersons (shortfall of 5,900), chefs (shortfall of 3,900), food tradespersons (shortfall of 1,600), computing professionals (shortfall of 1,100), wood tradespersons (shortfall of 900), building and engineering professionals (shortfall of 700) and hairdressers (shortfall of 500).
