clarius Skills Index supported by the one umbrella
Skills shortages set to drive up average earnings
See
the latest Sky Business News Interview with Clarius Group
Chief Operating Officer, Kym Quick, broadcasted in July
2010
Average annual earnings are set to rise by
$8,200 within the next three years as the Australian economy
continues to recover and acute skills shortages start to appear,
according to the quarterly Clarius Skills Index released today.
The June quarter Clarius Skills Index -
prepared by KPMG Econtech and Australia’s only measure of
underlying demand and supply of skilled labour - shows that already
there is an emerging skills shortage across several occupations and
the availability of skilled workers may become an issue for
Australia in the near future.
The skilled labour shortage
is expected to drive a 5.4 per cent annual increase in earnings
over the next three years, and see unemployment rates drop below
five per cent by early 2011.
Clarius Group Chief Operating Officer, Kym
Quick, said that the findings of the Skills Index and the
implications it will have on wages and unemployment presented
significant challenges ahead for not only employers, but policy
makers.
“The developments have some implications on
interest rates, the population growth debate and decisions about
temporary skilled worker visas,” Ms Quick said.
“The availability of skilled workers is
particularly an issue in the Construction, Engineering and Building
Professions and Trade occupations – for instance there is currently
a shortage of 6,300 Construction tradespersons.
Ms Quick said while most other occupations are
in the balanced range, several are approaching the
high range of acute skills shortages.
“We also need policy makers to develop and
implement initiatives that will address the potential skills
shortages immediately and not wait for it to happen before taking
action.”
In the June quarter, the eight categories
where there were shortages were Building and Engineering
Professionals (101.1), Computing Professionals (100.2), Building
and Engineering Associate Professionals (100.8), Chefs (105.3),
Metal Tradespersons (104.5), Automotive Tradespersons (101.5),
Construction Tradespersons (101.7) and Wood Tradespersons
(101.8).
A score of 100 indicates equal tension between
labour supply and demand. Anything greater than 100 indicates a
skills shortage.
The overall Index for 20 categories in the
2010 June quarter was 99.6, compared with 98.5 at
the same time last year. The largest increase in skills shortages
in the Index at the occupational level was recorded for
Construction Tradespersons, which rose from a perfectly
balanced 100.0 in the March
quarter to 101.7 in the June quarter. This
1.7 per cent increase in the index translates to a shortage of
approximately 6,300 Construction Tradespersons in the June
quarter.
Overall, there was only an oversupply of
around 15,000 skilled workers in the Australian labour market of
more than 11 million. At occupation group level, the index
for Professionals fell 0.5 per cent, while the indices for
Associate Professionals and Tradespersons rose by 0.2 and 0.3 per
cent, respectively.
Download
the latest June 2010 Quarter Clarius Skills Index to
learn more about the latest labour demand and supply in
Australia.
The Clarius Skills Index is Australia’s first ever National
skills index that measures the extent of skilled labour shortages
or oversupply across 20 occupation categories, using labour force
data supplied by the Department of Employment and Workplace
Relations and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Clarius Skills Index Archive:
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