Ongoing border closures and a ban on international travel means that Australian businesses have lost access to technical and skilled workers from overseas coming into the country. As a result of this businesses are now having to fight for available resources and things could potential become more challenging for small businesses across the country.

The challenges are being especially felt by businesses in the hospitality and tourism industries. Many of the businesses in these industries such as restaurants and wineries are struggling to find new staff members to fill work shifts.

One of the reasons why it is especially tough for small businesses is because the skilled workers who are available in the country are able to name their price as the employment market becomes more competitive. As a result of this small business, who have been impacted significantly by lockdown restrictions are finding it extremely difficult to compete against larger businesses who are equipped with a much larger budget.

Local employees across Australia are also becoming more accustomed to and viewing working from home arrangements as more favourable. As a result of this many employees have become resistant to returning to pre-covid work arrangements.

Although there are many advantages of working in an office, many Australian employees find that by working from home has plenty of benefits as you no longer have to spend long periods of time commuting to and from your job and no longer having to pay sustainably high parking fees. 

With all this in mind, there are a few things businesses can do to create a team culture that encourages staff retention, in the current environment where budget is a problem for a large number of small businesses across the country. Small businesses will need to take a closer look at other strategies and tactics to retain and attract quality staff without getting caught up in a salary-bidding war.

Currently, the average wage increases an employee accepts when taking another job is at 15 percent. Although salary does play a huge role in employee retention, it’s important to understand that it is not the only factor. Work and lifestyle balance, flexible working arrangements and creating an inclusive work environment for people of different backgrounds are some of factors many employees will take into consideration when deciding on whether or not they choose to accept a new job.

Working Remotely Has Saved 2.4 Million Australians $397 On Daily Commutes

Almost 2.4 million Australian workers have the option to work from home during the covid-19 pandemic and consequently save money and time that would’ve been spent travelling to and from work.

A recently published report showed that in a world prior to covid-19 the average full-time city workers spent 67 minutes each day travelling to and from work. This turns out to be an average of $49 in foregone earnings.

The figures are even higher for workers who take public transport to work, with the average time spent travelling and transport cost estimated to be about $57 each day according to the results from the Productivity Commission’s latest survey.

This means that all in all if a worker was to commute one day less each week over the course of the year, they would save seven total days in travel time and $394 in public transport expenses.

“Avoiding the commute can therefore substantially benefit workers — survey evidence suggests that many workers consider it to be the most beneficial aspect of working from home. Saving on the commute enables workers to undertake other activities — such as extra work, time with family, and caring and domestic tasks,” stated the Productivity Commission.

The number of Australians working from home increased significantly from 8 percent in a world before the covid-19 pandemic to 40 percent 40 this year. This is a shift in how Australians spend their money and time that could have ramifications for their rates of pay.

In the long term, this means workers will ultimately have more power to select jobs that meet their lifestyle needs, although there could be salary trade-offs.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that many people are already leaving their jobs to pursue the flexibility offered by remote work. Workers may also be willing to accept lower wages to work from home,” said the Productivity Commission.