Thousands of jobs are on offer but many Australians are reluctant to return to the workforce due to generous government handouts, according to a new report.
Retail sales assistants, truck drivers, child carers, receptionists, managers and registered nurses are among the jobs on offer.
But employers struggling to find workers have blamed a ‘lack of applicants’ despite a surge in unemployment in the wake of COVID-19, data from the National Skills Commission showed.
Retail sales assistants are one of the jobs employers are looking to hire for, but many say there has been a ‘lack of applicants’
In a survey conducted on 5,700 employers with 3,500 vacant positions, 44 per cent said their biggest problem was a small number of applicants.
‘The most commonly mentioned occupations that employers have been recruiting for since 7 April 2020 include retail sales assistants, truck drivers, child carers, receptionists, managers and registered nurses,’ the NSC report said.
‘Around 30 per cent of recruiting employers were having (or expected to have) difficulty filling their vacancies.
‘Lack of applicants’ was the most common reason (mentioned by 44 per cent of employers having difficulty recruiting), followed by ‘applicants lack experience’ (27 per cent).’
These were followed by the ‘location’ of the vacancy and ‘applicants lack technical skills’ (both 20 per cent).
Employers also asked for workers that had skills which relate directly to the role they would be working in.
Some of the most admired skills mentioned by employers were assisting and caring for others, customer and personal service, operating vehicles, controlling machines and process, along with selling.
Job advertisements have also risen for roles such as nursing and sales representatives, according to data from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
There were nearly 300 ads listed for nursing and accounting roles in Australia within the last week.
More than 250 ads were posted for sale roles and nearly 200 for computer software professions.
Truck drivers, child carers, receptionists, managers and registered nurses are the top jobs employers are looking to hire for, according to data from the National Skills Commission
Unemployment rose to 7.1 per cent in May. Childcare staff are also reportedly in demand following the coronavirus outbreak
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said earlier this week the government will not allow the JobSeeker payments to ‘impede’ people returning to work.
‘What we have to be worried about now is that we can’t allow the JobSeeker payment to become an impediment to people going out and doing work, getting extra shifts,’ he told 2GB on Monday.
‘And we are getting a lot of anecdotal feedback from small businesses, even large businesses where some of them are finding it hard to get people to come and take the shifts because they’re on these higher levels of payment.’
Unemployment rose to 7.1 per cent in May following the outbreak of coronavirus.
As cases have started to ease within Australia, venues are reopening and staff are urged to return to work.
Former Liberal minister Craig Laundy said his pubs were struggling to get workers back through the doors because they were too comfortable on COVID-19 handouts.
He said staff at his pubs throughout NSW that were on JobKeeper payments were refusing to work shifts.
‘We are going out to the marketplace and advertising at the moment. We are not getting much in return,’ he told the Today Show.
‘I think people looking for work out there aren’t looking.
‘I would get off your backside, effectively, and put your hand up and answer these ads.’
Nurses and receptionists are also some of the jobs looking to hire after the outbreak of coronavirus
People lining up for JobSeeker payments outside of Centrelink. Employers with workers on the JobSeeker allowance are not required to notify the government if employees refuse to work
ALH Group Western Australia manager Ric Torchia says young people who live in affluent areas are also particularly reluctant to return to work at the 27 bars he manages across the state.
‘I’m calling people offering them their shifts back and they’re saying, ‘I’m good, thanks. I’ll come back when JobSeeker ends’,’ Mr Torchia told The West Australian.
‘JobSeeker is actually hurting us because it’s like this designer drug they don’t want to get off. They’re not interested in coming into work for 20 hours a week when they can earn the same amount at home.’
He suspects young people in well-off suburbs have moved back in with their parents and are living comfortably on JobSeeker while poorer people still struggle.
‘In the past, they (affluent people) would not have considered the dole but it has become so widespread now,’ he said.
Some 1.6 million Australians currently claim the JobSeeker allowance, which is now $1,100 per fortnight since it was doubled in April.
On September 27, the JobSeeker payment is set to return to $550 a fortnight.
The JobKeeper program – which pays $1,500 a fortnight to those left temporarily unemployed by forced business closures – has also created problems for businesses.
New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show one in five people on JobKeeper has been receiving more money through the wage subsidy than they would normally earn.
Anyone looking for work can visit Job Jump Start.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government will not allow the JobSeeker payments to ‘impede’ people returning to work
Scott Morrison warns Australia is ‘addicted’ to handouts and rules out extending the $20BILLION-per-month JobKeeper scheme
The coronavirus JobKeeper scheme will come to an end within months, as Scott Morrison warned against the country becoming ‘addicted’ to state handouts.
In a heated exchange with Labor leader Anthony Albanese in parliament, the prime minister said the emergency measures could not stay in place forever.
The $130billion wage subsidy scheme is costing taxpayers $20billion every month, providing $1,500-a-fortnight to workers who might otherwise be laid off.
Mr Morrison ruled out extending JobKeeper passed the current September 27 end date, saying he looked forward to a day when the scheme could be shut down.
‘We don’t want an Australian economy that’s propped up by subsidies,’ he said in a press conference when asked about a possible extension.
Expanding on the issue later in parliament, he said: ‘We cannot have an economy addicted to the measures we have in place.
‘They will break them eventually and that is a day we look forward to.’
Senior politicians have admitted there was ‘no way’ Australia can afford to extend the scheme
People are seen queuing outside a Centrelink office on April 20 in Melbourne (pictured) during the COVID-19 crisis