THE bad news is that the labour market will remain flat to year-end. The good news is that a number of key industries are showing skilled jobs growth in the next 12 months. Those were some of the findings in the latest Clarius Skills Indicator released by Asia-Pacific employment services specialist Clarius Group on May 6. 

This latest Clarius Skills Indicator shows the lower Australian dollar should aid business activity in trade-exposed sectors outside the mining industry including agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and education. It also identifies housing and infrastructure construction as ripe for job growth.

The recognition of these opportunities has emerged alongside the latest employment trends which show the surplus of job seekers in Australia has grown to 167,000. This should peak at 198,000 in the September quarter before the situation reverses.

The Clarius Skills Indicator, produced in conjunction with Independent Economics and based on ABS, Department of Employment and Clarius Group recruitment data, tracks the availability of skilled labour in the entire Australian labour market and provides a forecast for the year ahead.

Clarius Group (ASX: CND) CEO Kym Quick said employers were carefully reassessing their business plans and hiring strategies and opting for a contracted labour force over permanent staff.

“Executives are asking recruiters to identify good talent in readiness for growth but they’re watching their cost base closely and opting for a flexible workforce that can quickly be turned on or off,” Ms Quick said.

“The Australian dollar depreciated from around US$1.10 in the middle of 2011 to around US$0.93 in April 2014 and the flow on effect should be strong labour demand in sectors such as manufacturing and tourism that have suffered in recent years.

“The effect of the lower dollar should be boosted by the trade agreements with Korea and Japan.”

Major findings of the Clarius Indicator across the professions were:

• Managers in sales and marketing are the winners with a shortage of 500 skilled people, specifically with digital skills, as business transitions to web based retail.
• With the transition of mining – from investment to exports – the oversupply of engineers grew from a surplus of 3,700 people in the December quarter 2013 to 4,100 in the March quarter 2014.
• Fortunes fluctuate for ICT professionals. In the March quarter, the surplus grew to 1,800 up from a December quarter 2013 surplus of 1,200 and a September quarter 2013 surplus of 1,500 surplus. Clarius reported an uptick in demand for project managers signalling works are commencing.
• A June quarter 2013 surplus of 800 accountants, auditors and company secretaries doubled to 1,600 in the March quarter of 2014.

Ms Quick said the economy was experiencing a gap in labour demand because the mining boom – a major source of labour – has peaked and passed and new economic drivers have not yet kicked in.

“Lacklustre economic sentiment and the high Australian dollar has muzzled the ability, and desire, for investment but these conditions are starting to change and we should see improvement by the end of 2014 and early 2015,” she said.

The Indicator revealed the engineering market would tighten as new mines become operational. A decade long drought in housing is set to reverse in coming years – and with low interest rates, this sector is primed for employment growth. The ICT market is asking for project managers, signalling projects are moving.

The Clarius Skills Indicator showed the job surplus was more prevalent among lower skilled workers.

Ms Quick said the economy was now poised on the outcomes of the Federal Budget.

10 WORKPLACE TRENDS

The Clarius Skills Indicator has also identified 10 key workplace trends that have largely come about because Australian business has a keen eye on productivity gains as a result of the market has been flat. Consumers are saving, not spending.

1. Business is closely managing its cost base. Companies are preferring contractors over permanent hiring so their workforce is flexible and can be turned on or off quickly.
2. Business is scrutinising its productivity, right to the individual, before more staff are put on.
3. When it comes to making permanent appointments, business is in no hurry. What may once have been a six week process, may now take three months or more.
4. Candidates are staying in safe, existing roles rather than venture onto the job market. On one hand there’s a perception by business that there’s an abundance of people on the market. The reality is that a lot of the high performers are staying put.
5. People are being asked to multi-skill and fill gaps left by retrenched staff.
6. Loyalty is gone in the workforce given the amount of change and retrenchment that’s occurred.
7. Flexible working arrangements are becoming entrenched where in some sectors people have been asked to reduce their hours to manage costs.
8. Overtime is being closely monitored, and business is exhausting its leave liability.
9. Big decisions are being delayed until tax and structural paradigms are understood which is placing more pressure on an already flat labour market.
10. It’s been a market of high change but very low churn.

A complete version of the latest Clarius Skills Indicator can be found at http://www.clarius.com.au/media/clarius/clairus%20skills%20indicator%20may%202014.pdf

ends

AUSTRALIAN Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane chaired the inaugural meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Industry and Skills Council in Brisbane on April 3, attended by state and territory ministers.

The council is a key part of the Australian Government’s plan to create a more effective and efficient skills and training system with a focus on providing practical, job-ready skills that employers want, Mr Macfarlane said.

The Industry and Skills Council (CISC) was created after a streamlining of the COAG structure announced in December, putting greater emphasis on national priorities and delivering practical outcomes, he said.

The council’s first meeting focused on industry priorities, including growth sectors of the future, a de-regulation agenda, energy costs and workplace productivity.

 “For the first time today, we had Ministers responsible for industry and skills at the one table to discuss how the training sector can better support workforce needs across state and territory borders,” Mr Macfarlane said.

The council agreed on objectives to reform the vocational education and training (VET) sector which, Mr Macfarlane said, “under six years of Labor became over regulated and complicated, which has in turn discouraged businesses from undertaking new training programs”.

“The Australian Government understands that building a highly skilled workforce is central to driving business innovation and industry expansion,” Mr Macfarlane said. “We want to encourage more businesses to engage in training, which will create new job opportunities and boost Australia’s international competitiveness across a range of industries

“Through our VET reform process we’re working with stakeholders to build a flexible, high quality national training system. I am delighted that my State and Territory colleagues share that goal.  I look forward to continuing to work with them.”

“It’s now more important than ever that the Government gets rid of the red tape, regulation and unnecessary cost burdens that are standing in the way of investor confidence to create new investment and new jobs,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“The Australian Government is moving ahead with our plans to get rid of the carbon tax and the mining tax in order to cut business costs, as well as reinstating the Australian Building and Construction Commission.”

Mr Macfarlane said through the council Australian governments have combined to make a new commitment to ensure industry has the skilled workforce and operating environment it needs to boost the nation’s productivity and increase international competitiveness.

www.natese.gov.au/cisc

ends

CONSTRUCTION Skills Queensland (CSQ), the state’s industry leader for construction training, is changing its engagement model with industry to build what it calls a “cutting edge workforce for the next era in the state’s construction activity”.  

The transition will be overseen by new CSQ chairperson, Graham Carpenter, one of the state’s most respected chairmen and a former Assistant Under Treasurer during the Goss and Borbidge Governments.

Several new appointments have also been made, with Paul Hobson, Carla Crawford, Susan Armstrong, Rohan Anderson, Jo Mason-Smith, Erik Salonen and Wayne Forrester joining Brett Schimming and Geoff Clare on the CSQ executive leadership team.

Digital engagement will be at the forefront of the organisation’s new direction, with a number of new communications channels to be introduced to help make CSQ more accessible to Queensland’s construction industry.

CSQ has also implemented a social media strategy which will keep workers up to date with the latest news and developments in the industry and help facilitate peer discussion about careers and training.

CSQ CEO Brett Schimming said the initiatives would help the construction industry adapt to a changing world.

“If Queensland is to continue to attract investment in major projects, we need to build a workforce with world class capability,” Mr Schimming said.

“This can only be achieved if workers have access to the funding and support they need to undertake the latest training to develop their skills.

“There are more than 230,000 construction workers across Queensland, with a high percentage of workers located in regional and remote areas.

“Reaching these workers creates significant challenges and requires us to embrace new technologies which allow us to have two-way conversations in real time,” he said.

Mr Schimming said it was easier than ever before to access CSQ’s range of programs and services.

“CSQ is here to support the Queensland construction industry, from school based apprentices to employers and more.

CSQ assists career seekers to get a start in the industry by providing career information, entry level programs and on-the-job work placement opportunities.

For existing workers they provide funding to help with undertaking higher level skills programs, short courses and skills assessment and gap training.

CSQ also provides guidance for employers looking to plan and develop their workforce and keep pace with the changes in the industry. 

www.csq.org.au

ends

BUSINESS leaders Australia-wide are meeting the challenges of tough times through creative pay structures that reward performance and help to retain vital staff.

The latest research from Aon Hewitt’s Talent and Rewards division is tracking positive outcomes from creative solutions such as including performance-based pay adjustments as part of enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations.  

“This strategy allows organisations to reward top performers with significantly larger increases while keeping the overall remuneration budget stable,” said Shannon Dooley, Aon Hewitt Talent and Rewards senior consultant.

“In this model, top performers can receive increases significantly above the average outcomes, whereas poorer performers may receive lower allocations or no increase at all.

“Companies can contain costs in line with their budgets, while the best employees continue to be rewarded for good performance.” Mr Dooley said.

Aon Hewitt research showed salary increases had been falling since June 2011, and at the current average of just 3.2 percent a year were barely outstripping inflation.

Mr Dooley said this was in stark contrast with highs of 4.8 percent in June 2008. The downward trend is expected to continue for at least a year.

Overall, the Aon Hewitt General Industry Remuneration Report highlighted an issue many employers were facing in tougher times: how to retain top talent despite a decreasing review budget.

Mr Dooley pointed out that, despite rising unemployment reducing the intensity of the battle for talent, ensuring employees were positively engaged remained just as important to an organisation’s success.

“In a market such as this, where the pool of available candidates increases, employers do not necessarily need to increase remuneration to secure or retain employees, and this is what we are seeing reflected in the figures,” Mr Dooley said.

“It’s also true that when times are tough, companies simply can’t afford to increase salaries significantly, meaning focus may be better placed on other areas of the ‘total rewards’ remit and/or truly differentiating performance.”

Mr Dooley said the report revealed that voluntary attrition rates, the measure of the number of employees choosing to leave organisations, had also fallen across most sectors. This could indicate employees were concerned about job security and prospects, so decide to stay with the job they already have.

He said there were no major surprises regarding sectors seeing the biggest remuneration decreases.

Auto-manufacturing, for example, saw some of the lowest salary increases in 2013, and with car manufacturing winding down in Australia, the trend is not likely to reverse.

The remuneration report figures also indicated that the expected slowdown in mining has become a reality, with mining, milling and smelting all soft, “in stark contrast with the results we have seen in the past”. But there was one industry sector trending growth.

“Energy, including oil, power and gas did well in 2013, and are likely to continue in this vein in 2014, although it’s important to remember that their new normal is significantly below boom time levels of the recent past,” Mr Dooley said.

He highlighted some key solutions to employers’ reward and remuneration challenges identified at Aon Hewitt’s recent Reward Think Tank, where 70 reward professionals got together to discuss the key reward issues of 2014.

“When organisations have reduced review budgets they need to get creative, particularly when lower average annual increases may not be enough to retain the best talent,” Mr Dooley said.

“Aon Hewitt’s Best Employer research has consistently shown that differentiating rewards based on a combination of capability and performance leads to higher levels of staff engagement, which translates to a measurably healthier bottom line.”

The report showed the fastest moving sectors in 2014 are forecast to be oil, power, gas, pharmaceuticals and medical. The slowest sectors are tipped to be auto manufacturing and engineering.

http://www.aonhewitt.com.au/

ends