Australian businesses suffer from skilles shortages

Almost one in three businesses are being directly affected by the skills shortages in Australia, with the state of Western Australia being the hardest hit, according to a Bankwest research.

Mining states WA and Queensland really feel the impact the skills shortages has on the businesses with more than 40% of the employers complaining they are being directly impacted by the shortages.

Bankwest said businesses in capital cities were having a greater difficulty in finding skilled workers than the ones in the regional areas. "37% of the businesses that experience skills shortages have recruited from interstate and 29% have recruited from overseas." Bankwest business CEO, Ian Corfield said the looming skills shortage was a concern for for many businesses, particularly given the ongoing resource demands from Asia and the growing infrastructure needs following the recent floods.

Nationwide, the industries with the most job advertisements include engineering, information technology and healthcare. Mr Corfield said businesses were fighting the skills shortage with better investment in education and better apprenticeship schemes.

"Business owners also argue migration is part of the skills shortage solution. More then three quarters don't think the government has listened to the needs of small and medium businesses in relation to the migration debate."

The Business Council of Australia believes that Australia has under-invested in skills and training which had to be a part of future population policy.

"In the meantime we would be denying ourselves some growth opportunities driven by the vibrancy of the regional economy here if we didn't import the skills we need." Mr Bradley of the Business Council of Australia said.