Canberra is suffering the nation's most severe and sustained skilled worker shortage, impacting employers across their businesses far beyond the usual difficult-to-fill roles, according to a new report.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's "extra grim" for government entities and consulting firms, says a report on Canberra's employment market from HorizonOne Recruitment, due in part to migration catch-up amid a four-year lag to achieve citizenship status and large numbers of jobs for which only Australian citizens are eligible.
Simon Cox, the report's author, says employers are facing a "once-in-a-generation" event, with the lowest unemployment since the mid-1970s at 3.1 per cent, the lowest in the country, while heading to the lowest ever unemployment. It is the busiest market for advertised jobs he's ever seen and half the number of applicants.
"There's pain all over the shop in employer-land," he said. "That's just going to continue to get worse. There is no relief in sight that I can see, besides an almighty worldwide crash, and I don't think that's likely.
"When I talk to senior leaders in government, they feel everyone's losing. One week you win, and you get a couple of your key roles filled. The next week, someone steals them in a sort of circular 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' scenario where everyone's stealing each other's people. No one has got a full team and no one is winning."
Public service employers are offering job candidates more days working from home and letting staff perform roles outside Canberra as skills shortages grip agencies trying to fill positions.
Canberra is experiencing a 9 per cent rise per month in new jobs into the market on what was already a record last six months of 2021, the report found. Additionally, non-ongoing jobs have seen a 43 per cent rise in the last six months to June compared to the previous six months, on the back of federal government agencies recruiting in advance of Labor assuming power in May.
Contractors on hourly rates have seen no growth in the past six months.
Contracting roles would expect to decline, the report noted, but that shift would be slow and steady rather than a seismic shift, even with Labor's commitment to bolstering public service roles and reducing contracting, consulting and labour hire within the public sector.
"This is because of the talent shortages. Essentially, top candidates choose how they wish to be engaged and with job vacancies at peak levels, well paid contracts will continue to be very popular," the report found.
Labor will get its way eventually, the report predicted: "Combined with the Labor government's rhetoric around insecure work and potential labour law changes, we are likely to see permanent and non-ongoing headcount in the APS grow, and the reliance on hourly rate contracts diminish."
Employers in Canberra continue to play catch-up on digital and analytics roles, where the technology industry has long been able to monopolise talent in Australia. What top talent they can get are increasingly Sydney-based and fly to Canberra in short stints for top dollar.
The market for other roles is now also becoming "unsustainable", including executive assistants, project administrators, and lower-level policy and program specialists, where demand-to-supply ratios are predicted to become especially tough for employers.
Every good candidate in a specialist area, such as accounting, human resources or policy, can expect to have three to five offers within two weeks, Mr Cox said.
READ MORE PUBLIC SERVICE NEWS:
Now the shortages have "crept down into everything else ... the world's oyster for talented people [in all areas] and everyone is starting to realise it," he said.
"The only people that I know doing extremely well and keeping them fairly full teams are those with exceptional cultures and really good brands within their area and people are seeking them out to work there."
Only about five per cent of organisations can claim they have that kind of attractive value proposition, he said.
Government and consulting graduate recruitment rounds are now finishing only half-filled, Mr Cox noted. "That's not something I've seen in 20 years."
Around half of surveyed employers of Canberra say they expect permanent staffing levels to increase this financial year, while three out of four employers agreed that skills shortages will impact the operation of their organisation.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
Harley Dennett
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
