rcsa web survey round 27 – august 2008. executive summary summary business confidence has dropped...
TRANSCRIPT
Executive Summary
Summary Business confidence has dropped to the lowest since 2001, a drop of 7%. Expectations of
growth have also dropped 2% to 4%.o SA is slightly less confident while WA is slightly more confident
Labour market scores indicate a strong easing in the difficulty of finding appropriate applicants while there remains issues with the skills, capabilities and attitudes
o All locations are finding very similar labour market conditions except SA is getting more applicants for positions
Staff turnover has risen 8% to 36% pa and staff growth has fallen by 1.8% to 7.6% pao Qld has slightly higher turnover and NSW less while SA had higher staff growth while NZ had less
There has been a substantial drop in permanent full-time placements and a rise in on-hire employment and contractor placements.
16% of on-hired employees converted to permanent positions in the last six months while permanent employees converting to on-hired employment was 4%
The majority of placements are on-hire & contractors and the proportion of those placements as part of the total has risen from 84% of all placements to 91% while permanent placements have dropped by 6% rise to 9%
The proportion of total revenue for all services has remained stable with recruitment services accounting for 45% while on-hired employment & contracting is at 50% of the total
o SA and WA get a larger proportion of revenue from on-hired employees & contractors while VIC gets substantially less
o SA gets a smaller proportion of from recruitment services
Note: If locational differences are not mentioned, the differences are insufficient for comment
Executive Summary
Summary – issues of most concern Concerns about the state of the economy have jumped to the top at 84% while
lack of suitable candidates remains the high at 2nd spot. Concerns about the lack of hiring intentions of clients has jumped from 5th place to 3rd. Difficulty in finding suitable recruitment staff has declined 10% to 59%
o NSW is more concerned about immigration issues and least concerned about industrial relations
o VIC is less worried about finding suitable recruitment staffo QLD is more worried about finding suitable recruitment staff and less concerned about
price undercutting, hiring intentions of clients and price undercutting in the industryo SA is more concerned about 9 out of the 17 issues difficultly in retaining suitable
recruitment staff, industrial relations, workers' compensation legislation, maintaining profitability/fee levels, legal issues about on-hired staff, OH&S Issues, unfair dismissal and casuals, employment legislation, difficultly in finding suitable recruitment staff
o WA is more concerned about nine out of the 17 issues legal issues about on-hired staff, employment legislation, difficultly in retaining suitable recruitment staff , immigration issues, workers' compensation legislation, OH&S Issues, difficultly in finding suitable recruitment staff, unfair dismissal and casuals, price undercutting in our industry
o NZ is more worried about lack of hiring intentions by clients, industrial relations, maintaining profitability/fee levels, price undercutting in our industry, restructuring industries and less concerned about difficultly in finding and retaining suitable recruitment staff
Note: If locational differences are not mentioned, the differences are insufficient for comment
Executive Summary - Skills
The top 3 skills with the biggest shortages are non-building professional engineers, associates and technician 6% - 10% drop in demand.
The demand for health professionals and nurses remains static while rising to 3rd and 6th place. The demand for business professionals has slumped 15% and dropped from 2nd to 4th place.
Demand for other skills had generally dropped 6% - 10% and is consistent with a general easing of the economy and labour market conditions
The top 12 skills shortages being:o Non-building professional engineers o Non-building engineering associates and technicians o Health professionals o Business professionals o Building associates and technicians o Nurses o Building professionals o Electrical trades (building) o Non-building electrical/electronic trades o IT and telecommunications professionals o Metal trades o Carpenters and joiners
Excutive summary cont’d
The majority of respondents (84%) source candidates by approaching passive candidates. Nearly three quarters use niche or specialist internet job boards while two thirds use refer a friend incentives
o WA and SA are more likely to approach passive candidates and use refer a friend incentives
o NZ is less likely to use social networking sites
Process
Web surveyo E-mail business heads in both NZ and Australia
o 191 responses
o Data collection began early August 2008 and completed 22 August 2008
o The total annual revenue of respondent companies is $6.07 billion up from $2.29 billion last round. This large change is due to a change in the way the turnover of large companies is accounted for
o The proportion of $100m+ companies decreased by 7% from last round to 3% but the number remained similar as the sample size is larger
Demographics of sampleThe number of sole traders in the sample has increased 4% to 16%
Sole trader16%
Other84%
Trader status
Location differences:There are a higher proportion of sole traders in NZ
$1,691
$1,171
$946
$270
$405
$785
$121
$123
$557
$6,070
39%
30%
29%
9%
9%
13%
6%
4%
28%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
NSW
Victoria
Queensland
ACT
South Australia
Western Australia
Tasmania
Northern Territory
New Zealand
(note multiple locations allowed sums to more than 100%)
Location company operates in
28%
19%
16%
4%
7%
13%
2%
2%
9%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
NSW
Victoria
Queensland
ACT
South Australia
Western Australia
Tasmania
Northern Territory
New Zealand
Proportion of revenue generated by location
Demographics of sampleThe total annual revenue of respondent companies is $6.07 billion up from $2.29 billion last round. This large increase is due to a change in the way the turnover of large companies is accounted for.
Total
Ann
ual r
even
ue $
m
Total Australia=$5.52bApprox 91% of revenue
Demographics of sampleThe proportion of $100m+ companies decreased by 7% from last round to 3% but the number is similar as
the sample size has increased.
22
48
11
10
6
3
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Under $1m
$1M to $5M
$5M to $10M
$10M to $20M
$20M to $100M
$100M and above
% of sample
Annual turnover of companies
Number of clients in the last 3 months
7
13
30
17
26
7
0 10 20 30 40
1 thru 9
10 thru 19
20 thru 49
50 thru 99
100 thru 499
>500
% of sample
Number of clients in last 3 months
Mean Minimum MaximumNumber of clients interacted with in the last 3 months 187.70 1.00 5,500.00
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
August (2008)
April (2008)
December (2007)
September (2007)
June (2007)
March (2007)
December (2006)
September (2006)
June (2006)
February (2006)
November (2005)
August (2005)
April (2005)
December (2004)
September (2004)
June (2004)
April (2004)
December (2003)
September (2003)
June (2003)
March (2003)
December (2002)
September (2002)
July (2002)
February (2002)
December (2001)
September (2001)
58%71%73%
71%75%
78%70%
74%68%
71%66%
72%76%
72%74%75%
70%76%76%
74%69%
84%67%
81%85%
63%78%
26%20%
22%18%
21%16%
20%19%
26%23%
29%27%18%
18%16%
19%22%
19%20%
19%20%
12%18%
13%8%
17%13%
16%9%
6%10%
5%6%
10%7%6%6%6%
1%6%
10%10%
6%8%
5%4%
7%11%
4%15%
6%7%
20%9%
Confidence that business will improve in the next 3 months
%Agree %Neutral %Disagree
RCSA members confidence about business improvements in the next three months has decreased considerably
DifferencesNone
Business confidence has dropped to the lowest since 2001, a drop of 7%. Expectations of growth have also dropped 2% to 4%.
Scale:0=strongly disagree50=neutral100=strongly agree
DifferencesNone
60.0
70.0
80.0A
ve
rag
e
I am confident that our business will improve over the next three months
2%3%4%5%6%7%8%
Av
era
ge
Volume (%) your business will change next quarter
Location differences:SA is slightly less confident while WA is slightly more confident
Staff turnover has risen 8% to 36% pa and staff growth has fallen by 1.8% to 7.6% pa
Differences•Qld has slightly higher turnover and NSW less while SA had higher staff growth while NZ had less
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
Sep
t (2001)
Dec (2001)
Feb
(2002)
July (2002)
Sep
t (2002)
Dec (2002)
Mar (2003)
Jun
(2003)
Sep
t (2003)
Dec (2003)
Ap
ril (2004)
Jun
e (2004)
Sep
t (2004)
Dec (2004)
Ap
ril (2005)
Au
g (2005)
No
v (2005)
Feb
(2006)
Jun
(2006)
Sep
t (2006)
Dec(2006)
March
(2007)
Jun
e(2007)
Sep
t(2007)
Dec(2007)
Ap
ril(2008)
Au
g(2008)
Av
era
ge
Staff turnover (% annualised)
-15%
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Sep
t (2001)
Dec (2001)
Feb
(2002)
July (2002)
Sep
t (2002)
Dec (2002)
Mar (2003)
Jun
(2003)
Sep
t (2003)
Dec (2003)
Ap
ril (2004)
Jun
e (2004)
Sep
t (2004)
Dec (2004)
Ap
ril (2005)
Au
g (2005)
No
v (2005)
Feb
(2006)
Jun
(2006)
Sep
t (2006)
Dec(2006)
March
(2007)
Jun
e(2007)
Sep
t(2007)
Dec(2007)
Ap
ril(2008)
Au
g(2008)
Av
era
ge
Staff growth (% annualised)
While still difficult, there has been an easing in the difficulty of finding appropriate applicants.
Scale:0=strongly disagree50=neutral100=strongly agree
Differences•All locations are finding very similar labour market conditions except SA is getting more applicants for positions
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Sep
t (2001)D
ec (2001)F
eb (2002)
July (2002)
Sep
t (2002)D
ec (2002)M
ar (2003)Ju
n (2003)
Sep
t (2003)D
ec (2003)A
pril (2004)
Jun
e (2004)S
ept (2004)
Dec (2004)
Ap
ril (2005)A
ug
(2005)N
ov (2005)
Feb
(2006)Ju
n (2006)
Sep
t (2006)D
ec(2006)M
arch(2007)
Jun
e(2007)S
ept(2007)
Dec(2007)
Ap
ril(2008)A
ug
(2008)
Av
era
ge
s
Labour market scores
It is easy to f ind appropriate applicants for positions
Applicants generally have the appropriate work ready attitudes
Applicants generally have the right mix and level of skills
Applicants generally have the right capabilities
Irrespective of appropriateness there are at least as many applicants for positions as needed
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
It is easy to find appropriate applicants for positions
Applicants generally have the appropriate work ready attitudes
Applicants generally have the right mix and level of skills
Applicants generally have the right capabilities
Irrespective of appropriateness there are at least as many applicants for positions as there are positions
16%
34%
27%
53%
36%
14%
34%
28%
28%
8%
70%
33%
45%
18%
56%
Labour market
%Agree %Neutral %Disagree
Labour market scores indicate a strong easing in the difficulty of finding appropriate applicants while there remains issues with
the skills, capabilities and attitudes
-8%
-10%
-14%
+8%-8%
+8%
Staff placed and on-hired workersThere has been a substantial drop in permanent full-time placements and a rise in
on-hire employment and contractor placements. 16% of on-hired employees converted to permanent positions in the last six months while permanent
employees converting to on-hired employment was 4%.
August 2008
April 2008
Note: variability may arise because of a few large numbers – this is a problem of small data sets
Mean Minimum MaximumPermanent full-time placements 169.37 0 5,437Permanent part-time placements 8.26 0 260On-hire employment 853.46 0 40,000Contractors 75.20 0 5,000
Mean Minimum MaximumPermanent full-time placements 115.23 0 5,406Permanent part-time placements 7.33 0 500On-hire employment & contractors 1,179.62 0 130,000
On-hired employees converting to permanent - last six months% 16.41 0.00 100.00Permanent employees converting to on-hired - last six months% 4.08 0.00 100.00
The majority of placements are on-hire & contractors and the proportion of those placements as part of the total has risen from 84% of all placements
to 91% while permanent placements have dropped by 6% rise to 9%
12%4% 7% 4% 5%
9%
14% 11%5% 5%
13%5% 5%
10% 7% 6%13% 15%
9%
1% 1% 0% 0% 0% 1%2% 2% 0% 1% 1% 0% 1% 1% 0% 0% 1% 1% 1%
86%
95%93% 95%
94% 90%85% 87%
94% 95%85%
95% 95%90% 93% 94%
86% 84%91%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Ave
rag
ePlacement by type (%)
Permanent full-time placements Permanent part-time placements
On-hire employment & contractor
The proportion of total revenue for all services has remained stable with recruitment services accounting for 45% while on-hired employment &
contracting is at 50% of the total
Difference from average•SA and WA get a larger proportion of revenue from on-hired employees & contractors while VIC gets substantially less•SA gets a smaller proportion of from recruitment services
44%
47%52%57%
48%51%
51%47% 47%
51% 52% 50%45% 43%
47% 48%45%
50%45%
38% 37% 37% 35%
43%
37%
44% 43% 43%45% 45%
42% 43%47%
43% 43%48%
45%49%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Ave
rag
eService revenue (%)
On-hired employee & contractor services Recruitment services
A substantial proportion of companies have neither contractors nor on-hire employees.
16
14
13
7
14
16
9
12
0 5 10 15 20
None
1 thru 19
20 thru 49
50 thru 99
100 thru 199
200 thru 499
500 thru 1999
>2000
% of sample
On-hire & contactor numbers on books
30
26
25
13
27
30
17
23
0 10 20 30 40
None
1 thru 19
20 thru 49
50 thru 99
100 thru 199
200 thru 499
500 thru 1999
>2000
Number
On-hire & contractor numbers on books
The majority of respondents (84%) source candidates by approaching passive candidates. Nearly three quarters use niche or specialist internet job boards while two thirds use refer a friend
incentives
6
31
46
67
72
84
0 20 40 60 80 100
Second Life or other virtual worlds
Other
Social networking sites (e.g Facebook LinkedIn
MySpace)
Refer a f riend incentives
Increasing the use of niche/specialist internet
job boards
Approaching passive candidates
% of sample
Media used to source candidates
Differences•WA and SA are more likely to approach passive candidates and use refer a friend incentives •NZ is less likely to use social networking sites
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Restructuring industries
Industrial relations
Difficultly in retaining suitable recruitment staff
Financing growth
Cost of advertising
Maintaining profitability/fee levels
Price undercutting in our industry
Difficultly in finding suitable recruitment staff
Lack of hiring intentions by clients
Lack of suitable candidates
State of the economy
28%
29%
32%
32%
42%
50%
51%
59%
67%
83%
84%
72%
71%
68%
68%
58%
50%
49%
41%
33%
17%
16%
%Agree %Disagree
Concerns for the present and near future (all respondents)
Concerns about the state of the economy have jumped to the top at 84% while lack of suitable candidates remains the high at 2nd spot. Concerns about the lack of hiring intentions of clients has jumped from 5 th place to 3rd. Difficulty in
finding suitable recruitment staff has declined 10% to 59%.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Occupational Health and Safety Act (NZ)
Accident Compensation Act (NZ)
ACC levies (New Zealand)
Immigration issues (NZ)
Employment Relations Act (NZ)
New Zealand
Workers' compensation legislation (Australia)
Unfair dismissal and casuals (Australia)
OH&S Issues (Australia)
Immigration issues (Australia)
Employment legislation (Australia)
Legal issues about on-hired staf f (Australia)
Australia
30%
36%
46%
46%
49%
28%
31%
33%
40%
42%
44%
70%
64%
54%
54%
51%
72%
69%
67%
60%
58%
56%
%Agree %Disagree
Concerns for the present and near future (National issues)
In Australia concerns about legal issues (45%) and employment legislation (42%) remain the top issues but have each dropped 10% while in NZ the employment relations act is the top issue. Immigration
concerns have lessened 20%
Location differences
Note: <50=less than neutral50=neutral>50 = greater than neutral
Compared to average•NSW is more concerned about immigration issues and least concerned about industrial relations•VIC is less worried about finding suitable recruitment staff•QLD is more worried about finding suitable recruitment staff and less concerned about price undercutting, hiring intentions of clients and price undercutting in the industry•SA is more concerned about 9 out of the 17 issues difficultly in retaining suitable recruitment staff, industrial relations, workers' compensation legislation, maintaining profitability/fee levels, legal issues about on-hired staff, OH&S Issues, unfair dismissal and casuals, employment legislation, difficultly in finding suitable recruitment staff •WA is more concerned about nine out of the 17 issues legal issues about on-hired staff, employment legislation, difficultly in retaining suitable recruitment staff , immigration issues, workers' compensation legislation, OH&S Issues, difficultly in finding suitable recruitment staff, unfair dismissal and casuals, price undercutting in our industry•NZ is more worried about lack of hiring intentions by clients, industrial relations, maintaining profitability/fee levels, price undercutting in our industry, restructuring industries and less concerned about difficultly in finding and retaining suitable recruitment staff
Variable NSW VIC Qld SA WA NZWeighted
aveSubstantially less than averageSubstantially more than average
State of the economy 81.00 84.00 91.00 82.00 88.00 87.00 85.38Lack of suitable candidates 85.00 79.00 88.00 82.00 80.00 81.00 82.99Lack of hiring intentions by clients 72.00 69.00 56.00 75.00 71.00 88.00 71.38Difficultly in finding suitable recruitment staff 68.00 60.00 76.00 73.00 78.00 51.00 65.91Difficultly in retaining suitable recruitment staff 38.00 30.00 44.00 60.00 52.00 29.00 38.42Financing growth 31.00 30.00 28.00 27.00 30.00 35.00 30.64Maintaining profitability/fee levels 49.00 55.00 44.00 69.00 54.00 61.00 53.16Price undercutting in our industry 54.00 50.00 44.00 60.00 61.00 61.00 53.53Restructuring industries 26.00 26.00 29.00 21.00 22.00 35.00 27.64Cost of advertising 36.00 40.00 41.00 40.00 39.00 35.00 38.11Industrial relations 21.00 26.00 29.00 47.00 36.00 38.00 29.70Workers' compensation legislation (Australia) 30.00 23.00 27.00 47.00 43.00 30.21Employment legislation (Australia) 45.00 40.00 42.00 53.00 61.00 45.36Legal issues about on-hired staff (Australia) 44.00 45.00 46.00 60.00 65.00 48.21Immigration issues (Australia) 47.00 36.00 44.00 50.00 58.00 44.94OH&S Issues (Australia) 36.00 28.00 33.00 47.00 48.00 35.40Unfair dismissal and casuals (Australia) 35.00 30.00 26.00 44.00 42.00 33.01
32%
26%
25%
16%
18%
22%
17%
17%
17%
9%
13%
12%
12%
15%
7%
8%
12%
9%
8%
6%
14%
15%
12%
20%
15%
8%
12%
10%
10%
17%
13%
13%
12%
8%
16%
15%
11%
12%
12%
14%
12%
14%
12%
22%
15%
14%
14%
12%
12%
19%
13%
13%
13%
16%
27%
20%
12%
13%
17%
18%
1%
1%
1%
5%
2%
1%
6%
3%
4%
5%
2%
3%
2%
1%
4%
4%
3%
3%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
3%
1%
1%
2%
0%
0%
4%
0%
1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
1%
1%
1%
1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Non-building professional engineers
Non-building engineering associates and technicians
Health professionals
Business professionals
Building associates and technicians
Nurses
Building professionals
Electrical trades (building)
Non-building electrical/electronic trades
IT and telecommunications professionals
Metal trades
Carpenters and joiners
Plumbers
Medical technicians
Receptionists and telephonists
IT and telecommunications technicians
Bricklayers
Roofers
Vehicle trades
Mobile plant operators
Supply of skills by occupation in order of total shortage
Shortage long term
Shortage short term
Neutral
Over supply short term
Over supply long term
Skills shortages by occupation – top 20 The top 3 skills with the biggest shortages are non-building professional engineers, associates and technician 6% - 10% drop in
demand. The demand for health professionals and nurses remains static while rising to 3 rd and 6th place. The demand for business professionals has slumped 15% and dropped from 2nd to 4th place. Demand for other skills had generally dropped 6% - 10% and is
consistent with a general easing of the economy and labour market conditions.
To
tal
sho
rtag
e
46%40%36%36%33%30%29%28%27%27%26%25%24%24%23%23%23%21%20%20%
3%
8%
9%
9%
4%
5%
8%
4%
7%
6%
8%
9%
4%
4%
4%
5%
3%
4%
5%
7%
2%
16%
11%
9%
10%
14%
13%
9%
13%
9%
7%
5%
4%
9%
9%
9%
7%
8%
7%
6%
3%
6%
23%
21%
19%
13%
30%
21%
19%
25%
32%
23%
27%
23%
27%
21%
20%
23%
23%
23%
23%
30%
24%
2%
3%
0%
3%
4%
2%
3%
1%
8%
1%
1%
3%
2%
5%
4%
2%
5%
1%
1%
1%
4%
4%
3%
1%
1%
2%
1%
2%
1%
9%
2%
2%
2%
1%
2%
0%
1%
1%
1%
3%
1%
1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Sales staf f (not professionals)
IT and telecommunications trades
School teachers
Wall tilers
Other clerks
Machine and stationary plant operators
Drivers
Trades assistants and factory hands
General managers
Social professionals
Scientists
Scientif ic technicians
Other personal service workers
Building & construction labourers
Food trades
Rail drivers
Waiters and restaurant staf f
Agricultural labourers
Mining labourers
Farm managers
Cleaners
Supply of skills by occupation in order of total shortage
Shortage long term
Shortage short term
Neutral
Over supply short term
Over supply long term
Skills shortages by occupation – bottom 20
To
tal
sho
rtag
e
19%19%19%19%18%17%17%17%16%14%13%13%13%13%13%12%11%11%10%10%8%
Top 10 skill shortages by location
NSW1. Non-building professional engineers
2. Non-building engineering associates and technicians
3. Business professionals
4. Building associates and technicians
5. IT and telecommunications professionals
6. Health professionals
7. Building professionals
8. Electrical trades (building)
9. Nurses
10. IT and telecommunications technicians
VIC1. Non-building professional engineers
2. Non-building engineering associates and technicians
3. Business professionals
4. Health professionals
5. Electrical trades (building)
6. Non-building electrical/electronic trades
7. Building professionals
8. Building associates and technicians
9. IT and telecommunications professionals
10. Plumbers
Top 10 skill shortages by location
Queensland1. Non-building professional engineers
2. Non-building engineering associates and technicians
3. Health professionals
4. Business professionals
5. Building associates and technicians
6. Building professionals
7. IT and telecommunications professionals
8. Electrical trades (building)
9. Nurses
10. Non-building electrical/electronic trades
South Australia1. Electrical trades (building)
2. Non-building engineering associates and technicians
3. IT and telecommunications professionals
4. IT and telecommunications technicians
5. Non-building electrical/electronic trades
6. Carpenters and joiners
7. Non-building professional engineers
8. Nurses
9. Health professionals
10. Plumbers
Top 10 skill shortages by location
Western Australia
1. Non-building professional engineers
2. Non-building engineering associates and technicians
3. IT and telecommunications professionals
4. Electrical trades (building)
5. Business professionals
6. IT and telecommunications technicians
7. Health professionals
8. Non-building electrical/electronic trades
9. Carpenters and joiners
10. Plumbers
New Zealand
1. Non-building professional engineers
2. Non-building engineering associates and technicians
3. Building associates and technicians
4. Nurses
5. Health professionals
6. Non-building electrical/electronic trades
7. Metal trades
8. Electrical trades (building)
9. Carpenters and joiners
10. IT and telecommunications professionals