Are Employers the Key to Workforce Shortages?
It is well documented that Australia is experiencing the biggest challenge in workforce shortages in recent times. There are many reason for this, such as international borders being closed, reducing the intake of not just skilled workers, but also students and backpackers, who predominantly took up retail and hospitality roles.
However, vaccine mandates are now a major cause of workforce shortages. Despite Governments removing most of mandates, employers are still able to make a decision on whether to insist on staff being vaccinated against Covid. Reports show that over 95% of the eligible workforce are at least double vaccinated, so in theory, this should mean that mandates are not an issue. However, we recently complied a survey of 2,300 unemployed, ready to work job seekers, and 23% of those were not vaccinated.
Consequently, using unemployment statistics from September, of the 470,000 people unemployed and who are classed as “ready to work” this would potentially mean there are 108,000 people who could be employed tomorrow, if employers dropped the vaccine mandates.
It is appreciated there are concerns about those not vaccinated, but who is at greater risk of catching Covid? The vaccinated or unvaccinated?
Employers have the power to remove vaccine mandates, and with such a workforce shortage across all industries, is it time for employers to look at their own policies around mandates?