Labour market feels the heat

The state’s economy is showing no signs of cooling its demand for additional emplo-yment capacity, with all signs pointing to a further tightening as the skilled labour market feels the pinch of shortages across the board.

The skilled vacancy gap between Western Australia and the rest of the nation became evident about five years ago and is continuing to grow.

The Federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations’ skilled vacancy index shows that the problem in WA has worsened during the past three years compared with the rest of the nation, where it has passed its peak.

Since mid 2001, when skilled vacancies hit a trough, the index has risen by 5.8 per cent nationally but by 131 per cent in WA.

And ‘employment intentions’ have not subsided, with the standout labour demand coming from the resources sector.

More than 61 per cent of WA employers in the resources sector plan to boost staff, according to the latest Hudson Report survey.

The report, which surveyed 8,362 employers nationally, found that 42.8 per cent of WA employers planned to increase permanent staffing levels over the next three months, while just 2.8 per cent expected to decrease employee numbers.

Over the past 20 months to June 2005, the strongest growth has been in the property, business, cultural and recreational services sectors, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

These sectors have experienced average annual growth over that period equal to 5.6 per cent, while the mining sector has also been strong at 4 per cent average annual growth in the period.

There is also evidence to suggest that WA employees still greatly value their holidays, with a recent Ispos MacKay Public Affairs poll showing that 75 per cent of Western Australians saying they were either “not very likely” or “not at all likely” to trade in their holidays for cash.

As a proportion of the economy, the retail sector continues to employ the greatest number of Western Australians at 14.8 per cent, according to the ABS.

While the mining sector is currently recording the strongest growth in demand for employees, it still only represents an employment contribution of 3.5 per cent to the state’s economy.

As the economy grows at a rapid pace, the bargaining position of employees has increasingly come under the microscope, with strike action in the construction sector at the forefront of industrial relations disputes during the last year.

The number of working days lost in WA due to industrial disputes remains the highest in the nation. According to the ABS there were 24.4 working days lost per 1,000 employees in the March quarter.

WA’s recent track record of industrial action began in the September quarter of 2003, when there was a sharp spike in the number of working days lost.

Interestingly, the unemployment rate in regional WA remains higher than in Perth, where a significant number more women than men are seeking employment.

The May unemployment rate for men in regional areas is 3.8 per cent, compared with the city rate of 4 per cent, according to the ABS. The unemployment rate for women in regional areas, however, sits at 7.2 per cent, compared with the city rate of 4.5 per cent.

Overall, the unemployment rate in regional areas was 5.2 per cent compared with the city rate of 4.3 per cent, giving the state an overall rate of 4.5 per cent in May. This is the lowest of all states and territories apart from the Northern Territory, which had 3.3 per cent.