Things will get better
I had the pleasure of listening to Chris Richardson, leading BRW economist last week – who commented on our ugly year. Reflecting general opinion – he said that Australia remained relatively unscathed because of the solid health of our banks and the strict governance systems we have in place. As Australians, we are a house proud lot and on average approx two thirds of our personal wealth is invested in our homes. With the boom in engineering and commercial construction projects we should keep going and move through the next 12 months.
We have enjoyed an unprecedented boom, so as all things go up, they must come down. Chris explained that the Government’s action, that was hard, fast and a ‘stomp on the accelerator’, by delivering a large and fast stimulus package, has to date shown effective results – the average family is spending 6.3 percent more now than a year ago. The Government has to spend more in the short term to help us for now but will have to caution spending in enough time to aid recovery – a difficult balancing act.
Although some argue that the GFC is yet to reach its full climax and the larger downturn will come in approximately 12 months, I don’t believe we should plan for doom and gloom. It’s being brave enough to claim your space and making the most of opportunities. Be sure to protect your required skillsets for the long term – it may not seem there is a skills shortage with the many redundancies and retrenchments that we are experiencing, but a skills shortage is still predicted globally so be conservative and cautious in your planning. My guess is that once the global crisis is over, the climate crisis will re-emerge again – and ‘green’ and ‘sustainability’ will be very much back on the agenda. Your thoughts?
Top tip: Take a poll from your customer base to find out where their sentiment is from an economically and a climate control perspective.
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When you use the phrase “labor shortage” or “skills shortage” you’re speaking in a sentence fragment. What you actually have to say is: “There is a labor shortage at the salary level I’m willing to pay.” That statement is the correct phrase; the complete sentence, the intellectually honest statement.
If you start raising your wages and improving working conditions, and continue to do so, eventually you’ll have people lining up around the block to work for you even if you need to have huge piles of steaming manure hand-scooped on a blazing summer afternoon.
Re: Shortage due to retirees: With the majority of retirement accounts down about 50% or more, people entering retirement age are being forced to work well into their sunset years. So, you won’t be getting a worker shortage anytime soon due to retirees exiting the workforce.
Okay, fine. Some specialized jobs require training and/or certification, again, raise your wages and improve benefits! You’ll incentivize people to self-fund their education so that they can enter the industry in a work-ready state. The attractive wages, working conditions and career prospects of technology during the 1980’s and 1990’s was a prime example of people’s willingness to fund their own education.