If you’ve tried recruiting a new hire lately, then chances are like singer-songwriter Sam Roberts you find yourself asking “Where have all the good people gone?” Recent figures from The National Skills Commission show that more than half of recruiting employers are finding it difficult to fill vacancies, with that number increasing to over 60 percent when hiring outside of a capital city. So why is it so difficult to fill positions right now? While the answer is not a simple one, we believe the following to be factors. Australia’s international borders are closed. In Australia, the industry demand for workers increases at a much higher rate than our population increases. Historically, programs like the Queensland State Migration Program worked to bring in migrant workers to help meet the industry demand. However, with the closing of the borders, QSMP and other programs like it have also closed. Without migrant workers, Australia’s labour supply just cannot grow as quickly as it needs to, resulting in skills shortages across many industries. Unemployment rates are low. Unemployment rates are the lowest they have been in a decade, meaning there are fewer candidates seeking work. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the national unemployment rate was 4.9% in June – the lowest it has been since 2012. Closer to home, the Toowoomba Regional Council reported the lowest unemployment rate in Queensland at 4.4%. Candidates are prioritising job security. At a time when there is already much uncertainty in life, candidates are understandably not changing jobs as readily as they did before the pandemic. The SEEK Employment Report for June 2021 showed that while job ads on their platform were at an all-time high, job applications were the lowest they have been since 2012. This is despite SEEK ANZ Managing Director, Kendra Banks, reporting that visitors to the employment marketplace website have been between 39 and 42 million per month for the last few months. Banks states, “We know candidates are being more cautious about moving jobs, as our research shows that two in three say that job security has become more important to them during the pandemic. In addition, 40% remain concerned about their job security, and 31% have held back from changing jobs”. What does this mean for employers looking to recruit? Employers need to recognise that it is a candidate’s market right now. There are a large number of jobs available and a small number of candidates who are actively seeking. The current landscape requires that employers be more flexible, creative, and competitive in their recruitment approach. Here are some things to consider: Be willing to train up your workforce. Instead of holding out for a candidate with the ideal skills and experience why not take advantage of the many Government subsidies available and train up your workforce? For businesses operating within the trades listed on the National Skills Needs List, funding is available to employ apprentices and trainees or to up-skill current staff. Information on additional subsidised training and incentives is available on the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training website. Be prepared to offer incentives. According to Commonwealth Bank’s Head of Australian Economics, Gareth Aird, “as the labour market tightens, skills shortages will manifest themselves faster than otherwise and this will allow some workers to push for higher pay”. But remember, incentives don’t always have to be monetary. According to research conducted by SEEK, work-life balance is still one of the most important considerations for most professionals; RDOs and early finishes could carry just as much weight for these people. Expect the recruitment process to take longer. In the current market, it takes on overage 5 to 6 days to fill a permanent role – almost double the time it took prior to the onset of Covid-19. Logic dictates that it’s going to take some time to fill that open position. Know this. Expect this. Be prepared for this. And whenever possible, plan ahead. And it’s not only permanent positions that are affected. If you’re likely to need temporary staff over the Christmas break, we’d encourage you to start thinking about this now. How can HB Recruitment help? With almost 30 years’ experience, we are experts in providing both Temporary and Permanent Recruitment solutions in the Toowoomba region. Our Recruitment Consultants take the time to get to know your business with a view to matching the ideal candidate to the position, considering skills, qualifications, and cultural fit. We take the time to screen and get to know our candidates so that we can make matches based on cultural fit as well as qualifications and experience. We have established, professional networks that we can use to help find candidates that may not be actively seeking. We have just launched the #HBPeople Referral Program, allowing us to partner with our network of candidates in the search for more great candidates .
Our General Manager, Anne Selman, recently celebrated her 20 th anniversary with HB. So I sat down with Anne and asked her a few questions about her time with HB, the recruitment industry, and why she’s still doing it all. What made you apply for your first job with HB? I actually didn’t apply for a role with HB. In 2001, I had two young children and was subsequently only seeking part-time employment. A friend told me to register at Heather Bowen Personnel (now HB Group) as they sometimes had part-time roles on their books, so I did. Three interviews later, I was offered the role of Recruitment Consultant. I wasn’t really sure what the role entailed, however it was part-time and permanent so I accepted! Do you remember your first day? I do remember my first day. The owner of a Recruitment Agency in Townsville had come to Toowoomba to train me. She threw me completely in the deep end well before lunchtime. A temp role came in via telephone and she told me to “sell” a particular candidate (whom I hadn’t met) to the client (that I didn’t know). With little knowledge of the role or the candidate, I had to rattle off some sort of spiel (goodness knows what I said) before telling the client I needed to place him on hold. I then told my trainer that she could finish off the sale – which she did!! Anyway, I did come back the second day, and the next! How has your job (or the recruitment industry) changed over the years? The recruitment industry has changed considerably. It is much more difficult to fill a job today than it was 20 years ago! When I first started, we had candidates galore and a lot of my time was spent deciding which were the three or four best candidates to recommend to our clients. Today, we are lucky to find three or four suitable candidates for any role (no offence to current candidates). Our clients these days know exactly the type of candidate they would like in their business with cultural fit now almost as important as experience and education. The recruitment industry is much more compliant in terms of workplace health and safety, discrimination, privacy, screening and of course, the new casual conversion changes – whilst still new – will create even more change to our sector. In the past 20 years, I have seen so many changes including September 11; the GFC; the retrenchment of thousands of Government staff members in 2012; the downturn of the oil and gas sector in 2014; Covid in 2020; and now a candidate-short market in 2021. Lots of ups and downs, but HB is still here and going strong! What have been some of your biggest achievements or successes? I think my biggest achievement is surviving in recruitment for 20 years! Recruitment can be very frustrating as our “product” is people and people can be very unpredictable. I have been let down and surprised by our product many, many times. I still have some clients whom I worked with in the early days whom are still with the same organisation and using HB (and some whom have moved to other organisations and still using HB), and there are many candidates whom have returned time and time again to HB throughout this time. I have interviewed thousands of candidates and filled hundreds of jobs and still haven’t got tired of it. What’s your favourite part of your job? My favourite part of the role is, still, filling a job. There is nothing better than finding the perfect match and making someone’s day! Sometimes people walk through our door at the perfect time and the placement is just “meant to be”. Oh – and I have worked with some great people at HB as well! What’s some of your favourite memories over the last 20 years? I associate my favourite memories with placing candidates into roles that I know the candidate really wanted, or finding the elusive “unicorn” for my clients. There is always a new challenge in recruitment – on a daily basis – so it is never boring. The best part of the role is helping people change careers; or to leave a role they are really unhappy in; or sometimes, just assisting them in returning to work after being at home or unemployed for an extended period. Most people don’t last more than 2 years in recruitment. What makes you stay? Because no 2 days are ever the same! I never get tired of making that call offering a candidate their dream job.
What's a temp? A “Temp” (short for Temporary Worker) is someone who is hired to work within your organisation for a period of time, but is not actually your employee. Why would anybody want to be a temp? Workers who look for temporary work are usually wanting flexibility; they may be juggling other work and family commitments, or they may be in a period of life where travel or study is a higher priority. Working as a temp means they can take on short term contracts, and avoid being locked into permanent positions with minimal leave, or positions where the cultural fit isn’t ideal long term. Temp workers are not eligible for employee benefits (such as sick leave or annual leave) so they receive a higher pay to account for this. Why would a business hire a temp? In a nutshell, hiring a temp is a highly flexible and convenient way to ensure adequate staffing levels, while minimising employment risk to your business . Flexibility and Convenience. Hiring a Temp is quick. Recruitment companies have a register of candidates who are pre-screened, interviewed, skill-checked, background checked, and ready to start work immediately. Hiring a temp through a recruitment agency can take the stress out of recruiting, and cut out the need to deal with people who aren’t really interested in working with you. You get the chance to see if the candidate is the right ‘fit’ for your business. If not, you can end their employment at any time. You will have flexibility, which is paramount in today’s competitive business world where organisations are continually endeavouring to minimise wastage and cut costs. The candidate can start/end work as per the needs of your business. Minimise Risk In today’s litigious environment where Australia’s Employment legislation has been criticised for being overly favourable to employees, many businesses have valid concerns about the risk of hiring their own staff. The Fair Work Act (with which all Australian business have to comply) can be onerous for employers, let alone confusing. When a temp is hired by your business they are not your employee . The recruitment company is their employer, thus they take on the responsibility of complying with employment legislation. This is why recruitment companies have their own induction processes, and why they have specific policies, procedures and paperwork to ensure all candidates are suitably inducted into their temporary workplace (including OH+S inductions). The recruitment company takes on the responsibilities of their employment; including WH+S, payroll tax, insurances, addressing performance issues, and paying the employee on time. ‘Casual’ staff There is currently an ongoing debate in Australia about the legal definition of ‘casual’ work, and what benefits casual workers may or not be entitled to. It’s a topic that garnered some attention during the recent election, and is still being debated after a controversial court decision last year (for more information, you may want to read AHRI’s breakdown of Workpac-Skene. Hiring a temp means you don’t have to worry about potential changes to legislation pertaining to ‘casual’ staff which could expose your business to unanticipated risks and costs. Minimise Costs If a company requires a high degree of workforce flexibility (whether driven by peaks/troughs in supply and demand, or perhaps a strategic business decision) having Temp staff in your workforce may be a way to minimise staffing costs. If all staff are permanent, a business has minimum staffing costs to meet, regardless of demand. If temp staff are utilised instead, their work can commence/end as per the needs of the business . How many businesses hire temps? How common is it? HB recruitment has over 100 temps currently on placement with government and private sector clients within Toowoomba and the Darling Downs region. HB Recruitment has been supplying both permanent and temporary personnel to government and private sector clients for over 20 years. We will endeavour to fill any position required, for any industry. We specialise in administration staff, as well as labour hire, but have also hired accountants, mechanics, real estate sales people, lawyers, and more. What is a temp isn't right for me? Hiring a Temp isn’t the solution for every business. You may prefer to hire staff on a permanent basis, because it’s more suitable for your needs, or perhaps you want to encourage staff loyalty. HB Recruitment has over 25 years’ experience assisting business to find the right candidate for permanent positions in the Darling Downs and Toowoomba region. Whether you’re looking for a CEO or a Trade Assistant, we can assist. If you are wondering if a temporary staff member may be the right choice for your business, or you want to discuss your recruitment needs, we would love to talk to you. We have a database of candidates ready to start work (many available immediately) who have been pre-screened, interviewed, skills-tested, and background-checked.
