Three months after the Fair Work Commission's 4.75% wage increase took effect, businesses in industrial and trade sectors are feeling it. The smart response is not to cut headcount. It is to hire more deliberately.
We sat down with Mel Flavell, Agency Owner of Express Employment Professionals Newcastle North, to talk about what it means to launch a new staffing business, why Newcastle is different, and what she's most excited about for the future.
Australia's skills shortage is no longer a temporary disruption. It is structural. And for businesses hiring in trades, industrial, and warehousing roles, September is the moment to get ahead of it.
When the economic outlook is hard to read, the businesses that hold up best are the ones that built flexibility into their workforce before they needed it.
If your absenteeism rate has been climbing and you are not sure where to start, that is a conversation worth having. Getting on top of it in winter when the pressure is highest, is the right time to act.