The Barberhood's owner, Renee Baltov, says it isincredibly difficult to find new staff at the moment.(ABC News: Daniel Irvine)
Renee Baltov says it will be a reliefwheninternational borders reopen properly.
As the owner of The Barberhood in Sydney, she says it isincrediblydifficult to find new staff these days.
She has tried everything.
I can't really see any other way than migration helping with the solution, she tellsABC News.
It's much easier and much cheaper for me tohireAustralian workers and, obviously, providing Australians jobs is one of my priorities, but when you're faced with people standing at the door, no one to cut their hair and we've tried every other solution, migration is just part of the solution.
Ms Baltov'sdesire for more staff fits with what the stats are telling us, too.
Renee Baltov does notexpectmigrant workers will rush back into Australia.(ABC News: Daniel Irvine)
In the past eight months, Australia's economy has been hit bythe Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19.
However, Australia's labour market has weathered them both.
Januarywas the toughest month of the Omicron wave so far, with millions of hourslost to worker illness and close contacts having to isolate.
Nevertheless,employmentstillincreased last month, by 12,900 people.
Unemployment increased too, by 5,600 people, but that's because those people joined the labour force to look for work, giving employers a few more thousand people to choose from, to helpfillvacancies immediately.
Itkept theunemployment rate at 4.2 per cent, a 13-year low.
There's a strong, underlying demand from employers for more staff, despite the challenges posed by the more-contagious Omicron variant circulating in the community.
Monthly growth or decline in employment since February 2020 ('000s)
Since February 2020, employment has grown by 11,286 people a month (on average)
It's a sign of the tight labour market conditionsemployers such asMs Baltov are talking about.
My industry [already] had significant staff shortagesbut, obviously, with the border closing, it has been impacted to the point where there is nobody able to work other than the current staff that I had already employed, she said.
There's just not enough Australian workers or apprentices, no amount of retraining Australians or apprenticeships is making up for that demand.
So, even though the borders are opening [soon], we still need morethan what we currently have in this country applying for jobs.
A good market for some job seekers
The experience of some workers tells the other side of the story.
Software engineer Carl Connellhas just started a new job with Brisbane mining technology firm Plotlogic.
The company more than doubledits workforce in 2021, and it expects to double that again in 2022, with plans to grow to a team of 100.
It's been growing despite the pandemic.
I was sitting at my desk one day at my previous job and Greg called me up and said, 'Why don't you come down and see the place' and I was very excited to see the whole workshop and the robots, Mr Connell told ABC News.
Then I got offered the job.
Software engineer Carl Connell started hisnew job with AI technology designer, Plotlogic, a couple of weeks ago.(ABC News: Stephen Cavenagh)
Mr Connellsaid his experience working for a variety of companies, and in a range of countries, made him sought-after by the business which is in a growth phase.
He'slooking forward to growing with the company.
When I got offered the job, it just seemed like there were so many opportunities here for me to learn and grow, he said.
He's enjoying the collaborative environment of hisnew workplace.
Underlying strength in the economy
Economists say there should beongoing strong demand for workers from here, and it willpushthe unemployment rate lower through 2022 — even with the level of sickness in the economy.
In January,there was a sharp, 8.8 per centfall in hours worked, with alarge spike in workers taking sick leave or in isolation due to the rapid uptick inCOVID-19 cases.
Sean Langcake —the head of macroeconomic forecasting for BIS Oxford Economics —says thathigh levels of sick leave did not causeemployment to fall, and it was a verypositive sign.
The number of workers on sick leave was around 4.5 times higher than the usual January level, and more than double the usual mid-winter peak, Mr Langcake said.
These data show us that connections between workers and their employers have been preserved through the Omicron wave,something that was achieved through significant policy interventions in previous waves.
This puts the labour market on a strong footing moving forward., he said.
Borders reopening to fully vaccinated travellers
MsBaltov says she welcomes the news that Australia's borderwill start partially reopening next week, but shedoes notexpect a rapid influx of migrant workers knocking on her door.
I would say it will be a slow burn, she said.
What I would really like to see is some of that [visa]red tape cutand the government look at how hard it is for small business at the moment and to make it easier for those people to come through.
Renee Baltov says her industry is facing significant staff shortages.(ABC News: John Gunn)
She says she has spent tens of thousands of dollars sponsoring one of her employees, a barber who migrated to Australia from England seven years ago, and she's still trying tofind a way for him to stay permanently.
The great thing about migrant workers is that they are really diverse and they make up all parts of the industry, she said.
They teach our Australian barbers and hairdressers things that they may not necessarily learn in this country, and vice versa.
So it's great for working conditions to have people from all over the world, mingled together, and it's also great for clients who get to see different styles coming from other parts of the world.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-18/unemployment-rate-january-2022-employers-want-more-workers/100839436
