Businesses battling ongoing Geelong labour shortages

STAFF shortages are the most painful headache afflicting local businesses, the Geelong Chamber of Commerce says, as plummeting unemployment figures add further strain to recruitment.

The region’s worker shortage is worsening and beginning to impact a broader range of industries as employers across the board clamber to fill a rising number of vacancies.

Labour force figures from the end of last year, released this month, highlighted the extent of the region’s worker shortage as lockdowns ended and businesses ramped up for summer.

Business leaders say the problem has continued into the early months of this year, and fear ongoing impacts could dent economic confidence.

December quarter stats from the City of Greater Geelong showed local businesses were seeking staff in record numbers but that the pool of job seekers had hit a two-decade low. The city’s unemployment rate reached its lowest point in 20 years at 2.4 per cent, while internet job ads were at an all-time high, with 8775 jobs listed during the quarter.

The job ad figure was double the same period in 2020 and a 50 per cent increase on 2019, before the COVID pandemic hit the region.

The end-of-year figures match anecdotal evidence reported by businesses and industry leaders during the peak summer season, many reducing trading hours despite high demand or calling in family and friends to fill shifts.

Existing problems around housing availability, coupled with steep increases in COVID isolations during the period exacerbated the staff problem.

Geelong Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ben Flynn said the trends had prolonged into the start of 2022, with a host of sectors struggling to fill jobs.

“The end of the year was more about seasonal workers. A lot of the coastal areas that were crying out have that combination of hard-to-find rental accommodation and lack of workers,” he said.

“That was the real challenge going into Christmas. But frankly, that’s now spread across the board. The critical worker shortage is by no means improving.

“Whether you’re an accountant, or a lawyer, or a bakery, or a golf course, it’s just super hard to find someone.”

The chamber is currently surveying its members about their insights into the current local landscape, and Mr Flynn said labour shortages was businesses’ top concern.

“Staffing if far and away the number one thing keeping business owners awake at night,” he said.

“Usually it’s other things, like cash flow and so on, but this is clearly having an effect.

“Businesses are ready to roll and get back to business. I hope this doesn’t continue too long and continue to dent confidence.”

Mr Flynn said long-term impacts like further reduced trading hours, impacts to service delivery and delays in major projects could continue unless traders received short term relief.

But the latest statistics indicate the business stress is yet to impact confidence on a macro scale; total spend in Greater Geelong hit $1.5 billion in the December quarter, the highest figure since at least December 2018.

The Federal Government waived visa application fees for students and backpackers in January in a bid to bolster the national workforce, particularly in seasonal hotspots such as the Surf Coast-Bellarine region – but continuing problems indicate the measure is yet to have its desired impact.