THIRTY-SEVEN IS now the median age of Australia’s population, up two years from 35 in 2001
Thirty-seven is now the median age of Australia’s population, up two years from 35 in 2001; and the proportion of persons aged 65 and over has climbed from 12.6 per cent to 13.3 percent over the same period, according to the results of the 2006 census. While Australia’s population last week was estimated at 21 million, the 8 August 2006 census counted a million fewer heads (19,855,288). News that there were 16,436 more children in 2006 aged 0–4 years than in 2001 might delight Treasurer Peter Costello, but this is sadly more than offset by the 432,933 additional 55–64-year-olds approaching retirement before the youngest entrants are hoping to be gainfully employed. In terms of the working population you have to have access to, or have to look forward to, there are:
2.70 million 15–24-year-olds 13.6%
8.38 million 25–54-year-olds 42.2%
2.19 million 55–64-year olds 11.0%
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Upward pressure on professional wages
Professional employees can expect a 7 per cent pay rise over the next 12 months due to the skills shortage, Michael Page International research suggests. This would be significantly above average wages growth of 4.1 per cent. Phillip Guest, Michael Page’s managing director in Australia, said that upward pressure on salaries is to be expected in an environment where demand for professional labour still clearly outstrips supply. Eighty per cent of new jobs created in the five years to February 2006 have been in highly-skilled professional groups, according to Department of Employment and Workplace Relations figures.
Source: AAP
Coalition leads Labor and ‘neither’
The Liberal-National coalition would win the next federal election if it was to be won or lost on the state of the labour market, according to a recent Talent 2 poll. When asked which party would be better for the Australian labour market, 1,741 respondents declared the
Education policy was ranked as the most important factor for voters aged 18–34, while those over 35 years of age nominated economic policy as their priority.
Source: Talent2
SA labour market cooling, but still warm
Twenty-five per cent of South Australian employers intend to hire more staff in the July–September 2007 quarter, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. This is, however, 4 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter. According to Manpower’s managing director, Australia and New Zealand, Scott McLachlan, the four point decrease is only a slight moderation in an otherwise stable market. “The continuing demand we are now seeing in South Australia must be balanced against the tight labour market that exists across Australia … Companies must now be rethinking their strategies not only to attract but more importantly to keep the right talent,”McLachlan said.
Source: Manpower
UK employers struggling to hold on
UK EMPLOYERS are struggling to retain existing staff while recruitment difficulties persist, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. At the same time, only 29 per cent of UK employers provide training to internal staff to help fill vacancies (89 per cent of those that do agree that it has a positive impact); 31 per cent are using employer brand as a recruitment tool (with 75 per cent agreeing that it has a positive impact); and 14 per cent are targeting migrant workers from EU countries (again, 75 per cent consider it to have a positive impact). Recruitment agencies apparently remain the answer to the problem for employers, with 73 per cent of organisations still engaging such agencies – while 59 per cent do not evaluate their chosen agency’s performance.
Source: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Female managers changing workplace values
SIXTY-FIVE PER CENT of CEOs and managing directors say that male management techniques are becoming outdated as more females ascend the corporate ladder. More generally, 49.3 per cent of Australians believe that the growing number of women in workplace leadership roles is changing the way we work, with the introduction of “more feminine values”. However, males are apparently less inclined to believe this is so, with 46 per cent denying that female managers are changing the way they work, compared to 30 per cent of their female colleagues.
Source: Talent2
HR still the corporate wallflower
Only 5 per cent of surveyed senior business executives described the HR function as “highly effective in addressing business needs”, according to Deloitte’s Aligned at the Topreport. The survey of more than 500 senior business executives and HR practitioners revealed while 85 per cent of senior executives identified people as vital to business performance, little more than half had an HR representative with a seat on the board.
Source: Deloitte as reported by Personnel Today
MySpace for headhunters
LinkMe.com.au is home to 75,000 Australians waiting to be recruited, and 6,000 employers and recruiters are “enjoying the benefits of this form of recruitment”, according to LinkMe’s CEO, Campbell Sallabank. Of these, 65 per cent are 20–39 years of age and, in classic generation X and Y style, are “passively looking for a better position”.
Source: Markson Sparks Publicity
CEOs optimistic and training on the cards
Only four per cent of Australian CEOs think there are bad times just around the corner, and 29 per cent think the economy is going to get even better in the next 12 months, according to a survey. However, the proportion of executives suggesting that they would be increasing staff numbers dropped 7 percentage points in the last quarter to 58 per cent. Instead, their focus is now on retaining staff through training and development. The majority of CEOs indicated people management (40 per cent) and strategy (33 per cent) were the areas where CEOs themselves required training.
Source: Executive Connection
