The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia has left many job vacancies unfilled at this time.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data for the period June to August 2021, there are 333,700 available job vacancies, an increase of 46.5 per cent since the February 2020 period before the pandemic.
Last week, the job bureau, Seek, announced that October saw the largest increase in job advertisements in 23 years.
Bjorn Jarvis of ABS admitted that he himself did not expect such a high demand for labor.
“This job change is perhaps the most surprising, especially in its size and scale,” he said.
driving factor
Jarvis said the rise in job vacancies may not have been driven by the so-called “massive resignations” that have become a global phenomenon during the pandemic.
“In the Quarterly Labor Force Survey, we ask whether the respondents will continue to work in the next 12 months,” he explained.
“The result is that only about 9 percent expect to change jobs in February 2020 and in August 2021,” Jarvis said.
“However, these conditions may have changed in line with the end of the lockdown in the country,” he explained.
He explained that employers are dealing with this problem by pointing to a sharp decline in job applications and a lack of migrant workers entering from other countries.
According to ABS data in the August quarter, health and social worker vacancies had the most vacancies, reaching 51,200 positions to be filled.
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ABS job vacancy data as of August: |
|
|
Health and social workers |
51.200 |
|
Administration |
36.800 |
|
Retail trade |
33.600 |
|
Professional service, science and engineering |
31.700 |
|
Accommodation and food |
27.600 |
|
Manufacture |
23.200 |
|
Construction |
23.200 |
|
State officials |
17.500 |
|
Other services |
16.000 |
|
Finance and insurance |
15.800 |
|
General trading |
14.400 |
|
Transportation, post and warehousing |
11.500 |
|
Education and training |
9.800 |
|
Mining |
8.400 |
|
Real estate |
5.800 |
|
Arts and entertainment |
3.900 |
|
Information, media and telecommunications |
3.500 |
|
Electricity, gas, water and garbage services |
3.000 |
Impact on workers
The National Skilled Personnel Commission issued a list placing the nursing profession as the fourth most sought after occupation in Australia during September 2021.
There are 7,900 advertised job vacancies.
One of the nurses, Irene McInerney (58), admitted that her profile on the LinkedIn social media site is now filled with advertisements offering job vacancies.
“I really needed it,” said a nurse who works at a nursing home in Hobart City.
“I can move anywhere in the state because the demand is so high,” he said.
He said that the current shortage of nurses had an impact on existing workers.
“Our responsibilities continue to increase every month while we don’t get a proper salary,” he said.
“Honestly, we always come home very tired,” said Irene.
Australian Association of Nurses and Midwives Chair, Annie Butler, explained that the current surge in the need for nurses was due to an increasing population, poor workforce planning and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Butler admits he doesn’t have data on how many nurses have quit their jobs due to COVID-19 vaccine obligations.
This nursing organization has around 300,000 members across Australia.
“Resignations are more common in areas that are not directly affected by the COVID outbreak,” he said.
“Most of it happened in various places in Western Australia and Queensland,” said Butler.
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List of 20 most job vacancies during September 2021 |
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Work |
Number of vacancies |
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General employeesStore employeesSoftware and application designersNursesAdvertising managersLabor workersConstruction managersIT systems analystHRD AccountantsNursing and disabled nursesMechanicsRestaurant waitersChild nursesAdvertising and marketing staffRetail managersMetal workers and engineersElectrical workersTruck driversReceptionists |
11.60010.3008.4007.9005.7004.7004.3003.9003.8003.6003.5003.4002.9002.8002.7002.7002.6002.6002.6002.500 |
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Source: National Skills Commission, Internet Vacancy Index, Detailed Occupation Data September 2021 |
Adapting to the scarcity of workers
This labor shortage is experienced by one of the daycare centers in the city of Kununurra, Western Australia.
According to Janelle Atwell, manager of the daycare named Ewin, parents have now reduced their child care hours.
He said it forced parents to also reduce their working hours because they had to look after their children.
Asked about the salary offered in the midst of the current shortage of workers, Janelle said that her party offered a salary level above the minimum wage.
For example, he cites one of his staff who holds a Diploma in Education and Nursing.
“The diploma was earned through vocational school for two years, so he works full time and we pay him A$90,000 (approximately Rp900 million) a year,” he explained.
Janelle added that even though there was a salary offer like this, she still experienced the scarcity of workers, the same as experienced by other industries.
Today the National Skilled Personnel Commission released a report that put the “recruitment difficulty rate” for regional areas at 62 percent, compared to 50 percent for urban areas.
According to the commission’s Adam Boyton, before COVID-19 hit, recruitment difficulties were usually higher in urban areas than in regional areas.
“Recruitment difficulties occur when an employer wants to hire someone and finds it difficult to recruit them with the standard salary and conditions and location of that company,” he explained.
Produced by Farid M. Ibrahim from ABC News article.
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