The New England North West has one of the highest rates of skills shortages in the state, and experts predict it is about to get even worse.
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The report, compiled by the NSW Business Chamber, said that the region has a skills shortage of 54.9 per cent, and while some pundits are pointing at employees and the government’s lack of available training programs, others are pointing the finger at potential employers.
The survey of 800 businesses, showed that more than half of all employers in NSW are experiencing a skills shortage, while a further two thirds of employers are expecting it to get worse in the next 12 months, amounting to an estimated 54,000 jobs statewide.
The survey showed the New England North West to be the fourth most affected region, behind the Western region (70.6%), with Murray Riverina (60%) and Illawarra and South Coast (58.5%) rounding out the top three.
Tamworth Chamber of Commerce president Jye Segboer said that the skills shortage is already presenting a “massive problem for this region”.
“There are currently over 1,000 job vacancies across our region, with 530 positions advertised on Seek.com alone. The main vacancies exist in health, education, agriculture and construction,” he said.
“Although we have recently had a drop of the unemployment rate in the New England from 7.3 per cent to 6.1 per cent, more needs to be done to address the skill shortages.”
While Mr Segboer confirmed that local business is turning to the government to assist with school-based apprenticeships and wage incentives to encourage further training, he also confirmed that there is a problem with employees’ expectations.
“A great number of businesses within our region report that many applicants have become ‘job snobs’, and that they don’t want to fill some positions,” Mr Segboer said.
Meanwhile, academics such as University of Sydney Business School’s Professor John Buchanan, have levelled the blame at unrealistic employer perceptions, suggesting businesses are experiencing difficulties in recruitment because of the wages they offer, as opposed to a genuine skills shortage.
NSW Business Chamber chief Stephen Cartright said the new survey did identify a need to give employers support with the costly and time-consuming business of training workers.
He urged the NSW government “to invest in employability programs, kick-start incentives for employers, and pilot innovative new apprenticeship models”.