AHRI WORK OUTLOOK REPORT
AHRI publishes a quarterly report on Australian work trends. Overall, the June quarter Australian Work Outlook Report indicates that the Australian labour market has eased slightly. This quarter’s report indicates that demand for labour will continue to grow strongly in the second quarter of 2024, while wage expectations have moderated somewhat since the previous report.
The report also takes a closer look at the ongoing high employee turnover rates across Australian workplaces.
Skills Gap
Over half (57%) of Australian employers who say their workforce is not fully proficient, say that skills gaps are having either a moderate or significant negative impact on their organisation’s productivity.
“Reflecting the skills-gap challenges facing many organisations, upskilling staff is employers’ most frequent response to recruitment difficulties.”
Employers are also responding to these challenges with higher levels of investment in skills. Thirty-seven per cent of organisations say that they plan to increase training investment in their organisation over the next 12 months compared with six per cent of organisations that report that they plan to cut their training budget.
The internal skills challenge
Employers were asked about the internal skills challenges faced by their workforce. Overall, almost one in five (19%) of the Australian workforce are perceived not to be proficient in their role.
Employers tackle recruitment challenges through training and wage increases
The most common employer response to helping tackle recruitment difficulties has been to upskill existing employees, cited by thirty per cent of survey respondents. In addition, almost a quarter (23%) of respondents said they have raised wages, while a similar proportion (22%) cited improving benefits almost a third.
32% of organisations reported that total annual average employee turnover for the 12-month period was 20% and above, leading to ongoing recruitment and retention pressures.
Download and read the full report here >>> HR Research | Australian HR Institute (ahri.com.au)
