Jobs and Skills Australia has released their latest Recruitment and Outlook Survey for the September 2023 quarter and it has revealed some interesting insights for the industry.

The latest findings state that the highest recruitment difficulty rate in the September 2023 quarter, was recorded for Trade Qualified and Skilled Workers at 75%. In contrast, the difficulty rate recorded for Semi and Unskilled Workers was much lower, at just 48%.

This research confirms that companies are still finding it difficult to hire Trade Qualified and Skilled Blue-Collar Professionals, whilst finding Semi and Unskilled Workers has become even easier, with a decrease of 26% since last year.

This major contrast highlights the need for a different recruitment strategy for each occupation group. We believe that both groups must be approached differently in order to get the best results for your business.

Trade Qualified and Skilled Blue-Collar Professionals

For Trade Qualified and Skilled Blue-Collar Professionals, it is essential to go that step further and show that your company is an attractive place to work during the hiring process.

This occupation group are in high demand, meaning that they have the luxury of choice when it comes to their next job and their next employer. As they will likely have multiple job options, you need to stand out so that you appeal to the best employees.

Trade Qualified and Skilled workers look at so much more than just the job. They tend to look at what will be the most enjoyable role and fit their lifestyle best. Some of these factors include the employee benefits on offer, a good work-life balance and whether the business has a great overall team culture.

If you want to have a chance to compete against other businesses in getting these top Skilled Workers, it’s now time to review what’s on offer and work on ways to make your company more attractive to them. Remember, it’s not necessarily monetary benefits that Skilled professionals are looking for.

Semi and Unskilled Workers

On the other hand, for the Semi and Unskilled group, you have more choice when selecting your employees. This means you can have a more extensive list of what you’d like in an employee; be it skills, attitude or cultural fit, to name a few.

As there are many Semi and Unskilled workers available, you will likely receive numerous applications to these job roles. Although you may have many options, it’s important to make sure you are choosing the right people, who can potentially develop into a skilled role.

We suggest hiring people who are eager to learn and willing to grow within the company. This will then give you the option to train up staff members to work in those Skilled positions which are currently proving difficult to fill.

We hope that by following these recruitment approaches, you will get the most out of the process and your workforce.

To find out more about the recruitment activity and conditions across Australia, the full Recruitment and Outlook Survey for the September quarter 2023 can be found here. 

Our team can help with your industrial recruitment in and around Perth, get in touch to find out how.