Australia’s skill crisis regarded as top challenge
- Claire Lee
Australia’s skill crisis is set to be the most critical issue for employers in the government’s upcoming jobs summit on September 1.
With the shortfall of skilled workers numbering 500,000 jobs, short-term migration would continue to play a role in Australia’s workforce, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
The scarcity of workers across multiple industries was the “number one challenge”, and had “absolutely” overtaken other priorities, including seeking changes to stagnating enterprise bargaining, said Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar, according to the publication.
“The extent of the [skills shortage] pressure at the moment hasn’t been matched in nearly fifty years, so it’s really at crunch point in the economy,” he said.
READ: Workers in Australia found more job opportunities in May quarter
On Monday, the National Skills Commission reported a further 1.2% increase in its preliminary measure of online job advertisements, hitting 303,400. Job ads have increased for six straight months, and are now at their highest level since April 2008, up 80% from pre-pandemic levels.
