Increases in job advertisements in February suggests an economic recovery, but high staff turnover is clouding the true recovery, new data suggests.
Commenting on the recent surge in job advertisements and yet to be released official ABS employment statistics, David Edwards, Strategic Manager of Drake International, said “High levels of staff turnover and churn are clouding the job advertisement statistics and we doubt that this month’s unemployment statistics will show further decline.”
“Our recent research and surveys have revealed that almost half of all staff are currently looking for a new role, and 24 % of staff expect to have a new employer by the end of this year”, said David Edwards. “This is impacting the plans of organisations that want to grow staff numbers.” Over 93% of
organisations rate the retention of skilled employees as a very high priority over the next 12 months. David Edwards said, “Employment growth will also be slowed by two other factors – the high percentage of part time work in the economy, and the growing impact of skills shortages”.
“With 30 % of current jobs being part time, many employers are still opting to increase their staff resources by providing more hours to their current workforce”, he said. “Also, some employers are still cautious about growing staff levels too fast and contract staffing provides them with flexibility.”
Drake’s survey has also revealed that skills shortages are returning as an impediment to growth, with almost half of employers struggling to fill some skilled vacancies. “Drake’s survey has revealed that over 72% of organisations expect to suffer from skills shortages if economic growth is sustained”, said
David Edwards.