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TOP OFFICE GROUP

FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR YOUR BUSINESS

 

BRISBANE   3870 0288

IPSWICH      3812 2920

(Established 1989)

59% impacted by skill shortages

(Executive Outlook)

GROW YOUR OWN TALENT

 

 

ACADEMY 

WORKSHOPS

9 Darling Street, Ipswich

MYOB  30/8/2011
Build Winning Teams  21/9/11
MS Word (Basic) 15/9/2011
MS Excel (Intermediate) 22/9/2011
MYOB 27/9/2011

 

Courses include notes, lunch, refreshments and free parking.  

Call Julie on 3812 2920.  

 

 

·        Sourcing the right candidate relies on strong networks, referrals and advertising. 

Recruitment at Top has innovative ways of finding them for you.. 

EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK

A Business study of Brisbane's western corridor 

(An initiative of the Top Office Group)

This exclusive study of 50 leading private sector businesses (across 6 industry sectors) looked at the impact of the floods, skill shortages, challenges, prevailing attitudes and confidence.  We hope you find these key highlights of interest.   

Impact of the floods

39% 

·     Of businesses surveyed were directly impacted by the January floods.          
33%

33s Said business had dropped since the floods, especially where core business involves discretionary spend.       
18% Grew market share, including suppliers to mines, roads and rail systems, as well as speciality retail and trades sectors (on the back of flood rebuilding). 

Indicators within your sector to make you think the economy will . . 

44%  Remain the same
20% 

Improve 
36% Get worse 

The “most used word” to describe the economy was stagnant.  Only one in five businesses felt that the economy is improving. 

Executive Outlook was optimistic in the longer term. Most businesses felt that the economy will bounce back in 2012 in line with the resources boom, and 35% of businesses intend to increase staff numbers in the next 6 months. 

Skill shortages

  • DETA’s projections are for the economy to rebound by 5%, with 140,000 new jobs created next year. Resources will create 38,000 new jobs by 2015.  

  • The latest Skills Australia report forecasts a shortfall of 2.4 million skilled workers by 2015.  

Many analysts predict that skill shortages in Queensland will expand from resources across the entire workforce – and that a “shallow pool of talent” is our biggest threat to growth.  

Executive Outlook found that 59% of respondents are encountering skill shortages.. The two standout sectors were: 

  • Trades (Electricians, panel beaters, diesel fitters – across the board).. 

  • Accounting/finance professionals (together with accounts support, payroll and credit controllers). 

Other pockets identified include:

  • Operations managers and experienced Business Developers.

  • Engineers (against the backdrop of inflated wages in resources).

  • Aged care and health professionals. 

The challenges

The No. 1 challenge confronting those surveyed centre around rising costs and holding onto market share in a fiercely competitive, price-driven environment.  There was a sense that margins have been eroded - however, overheads (such as utilities, power, rent and payroll) have spiralled out of control. This has created a need to “do more with less”, while continually looking for ways to cut costs and improve productivity..  

Despite low unemployment and a mining boom, confidence is flat.  However, even if there is another downturn - there’s one difference this time – and that’s skill shortages. We’re dealing with a more complex workforce, and a whole new set of dynamics.  As a result, employers cannot afford to be complacent, creating a need to balance cost cutting with talent investment strategies.

TOP OFFICE GROUP

Top Skills . . . Top People 

 

Recruitment at Top combines proven recruitment solutions to attract high-calibre people with Nationally Recognised training. We enjoy strong referral business due to our high profile as a Preferred supplier of staff to:
  • Queensland Government (Administrative staff SOA200)
  • Ipswich City Council 

Our Academy, Skills at Top offers a diversity of business programs and qualifications (via e-learning, on site or our Academy), and is a principal provider of business training for the Productivity Places Program. 

Call us today on 3870 0288 (Brisbane office)   3812 2920 (Ipswich)  

www.topoffice.com.au