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The peak body for small businesses is urging the government to address the talent drought by increasing migration and removing barriers to participation.
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Labor must act urgently on worker shortages: COSBOA
07 June 2022
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9 minute read
COSBOA has released a set of key recommendations it believes are essential to help fix the small-business staff crisis.
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They include increasing temporary non-skilled and skilled migration numbers, a marketing campaign to improve the international perception of Australia as a place to work and study, removing the pension test so that older Australians can work more hours, reviewing the tax rate of second jobs, addressing the costs of childcare and housing.
COSBOA chief executive Alexi Boyd said staff shortages were the number one concern for the majority of small businesses.
“Small business owners are keen to benefit from the economic boom, but they can’t because they just can’t find the workers,” she said.
“With 86 per cent fewer Working Holiday Visa Makers and 44 per cent fewer international students in the country than in 2019, we need to play catch up to get migration numbers back to where they would have been had COVID not occurred.
“It’s not just unskilled positions; from accounting to IT to hairdressing, skilled positions are increasingly hard to fill.”
Ms Boyd said there is a need to boost Australia’s reputation overseas as a desirable place to work and study.
“We’re hearing from our members that students and workers who may have chosen Australia in the past are deciding to move to places like Canada and the UK for fear of being subjected to lockdowns and other harsh restrictions,” she said.
“We need to assure the rest of the world that Australia is open for good and no longer a fortress island.”
However, she said migration is not the only solution for the staffing crisis and said there are many people who may not be unemployed but face barriers to working more hours.
“Many Australians would like to re-engage with the workforce but face losing their family tax benefits or pension as soon as their income reaches a certain threshold. This is unfair disincentive to work should be removed in this time of economic recovery,” she said.
“Similarly, many people of all ages would like to take up a second job but face being taxed at the maximum rate if they do so. This is a barrier for many looking underemployed workers looking for additional hours.”
Ms Boyd said the cost of childcare and the cost of housing is also problematic for small-business owners.
“We’re hearing that small businesses are finding people to take shifts only for them to turn around and say ‘I can’t take this job because I can’t afford to put my kid in childcare while I’m at work’, or ‘I can’t find anywhere to live near this job,’” she said.
“The consequences of not addressing the problem are clear. For many small business owners this means roping in friends and family to cover shifts, and often working extra hours in the business themselves, reducing the time they have to work on compliance, business growth, and innovation.”
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