This edited story is sourced from The Guardian and explains why we’re run off our feet at Republic. The jobs market is bouncing back – with a few caveats.
Hotels and restaurants are battling to fill casual work rosters as New South Wales and Victoria emerge from lockdowns.
As other Australian states edge towards opening up, labour demand will grow and hopefully, so to will wages.
“There’s never been a better time to be applying for a job,” says Dylan Broomfield, manager of policy and advocacy at the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He cites hospitality businesses in Melbourne offering $1,000 bonuses to staff to sign up.
Sydney is reportedly offering more than twice that at some restaurants to find workers.
The urge to eat out with friends is perhaps only topped by the desire to travel after months of restrictions. Domestic holidays will boom.
The main caveat is that all of these jobs were once held by people who now don’t have jobs or have moved on, taken up study or dropped out of the workforce altogether.
This is not an economic boom. It’s a recovery and it will take many years before some businesses will fully recover.
There’s also a fear that the nation might have permanently lost workers, much like the recession of 1991.
But if you’re in the employment services sector, it’s all systems go in the lead up to Christmas and again in the new year!