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Australia is facing a dire labour shortage but few places are struggling as much as with barbers resorting to flying workers up from and the government forking out $2million for an ad to try and attract tradies to move.
The Queensland government hoped its flashy multimillion-dollar government advertising campaign would attract more than 1000 tradies but instead it was met with a miserable response, encouraging just two people to make the move.
In April, the government announced it was spending $2million on the ‘Tradies in Paradise’ promotion, expecting to lure hundreds of tradies with the promise of warmer weather and a $1,750 cash bonus.
The workers were desperately needed to help rebuild the state after record flooding in 2022 and the campaign was flagged by Premier in March and then formally launched a month later.
A flashy multimillion dollar government advertising campaign designed to attract 1000 tradies has had a miserable response with just two people employed
Australia’s unemployment rate has dropped to 3.9 per cent — the lowest rate since 1974 (pictured is a Sydney cafe worker)
‘We want you to run to paradise,’ the premier said, apparently quoting the classic Aussie rock song by The Choirboys.
Acting Premier Steven Miles bragged the marketing campaign would win over tradies ‘stuck in traffic in Sydney or …about to go through the long Melbourne winter’.
But the campaign failed spectacularly, resulting in just two new hires.
The workers were needed to help rebuild the state after record flooding in 2022 and the campaign was flagged by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who believed tradies would ‘run to paradise’
Barber chain ManCave, which has 13 stores on the eastern seaboard has had to fly NSW staff in to keep its new outlet at Indooroopilly running
Master Builders Association CEO Paul Bidwell told the Today Show on Thursday the campaign showed there was a shortage of tradies everywhere, not just in Queensland.
‘[Labour] is absolutely stretched right the country, in fact right around the globe,’ he said.
Mr Bidwell admitted the campaign ‘was always a long shot, but it was worth a crack’.
He added the $1,750 cash incentive wasn’t enough, given many tradies can earn $100,000 a year and the costs alone to move a family interstate were much more than $1,750.
News of the job search disaster comes as shortages in Queensland have become so severe that some small businesses are flying in workers to keep trading.
A Queensland barber shop is struggling so badly to find staff it is is having to fly workers in from NSW
In April, Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Queensland government announced its $2million ‘Tradies in Paradise’ promotion expecting to lure the tradies with the promise of warm weather and a $1,750 cash bonus
Barber chain ManCave, which has 13 stores on the eastern seaboard, has had to fly NSW staff in to keep its new outlet at Indooroopilly running.
‘It’s not the best thing financially, but we have to put someone in the store,’ ManCave Barbershop CEO Nimard Zahrah told the ABC.
Mr Zahrah, who lives in Sydney, is one of the many NSW staff commuting to Queensland to work there.
Aside from trades and barber shops, the health, hospitality and retail sectors are also battling, unable to find staff to fill vacancies.
Job shortages are far from confined to Queensland though.
A combination of limited immigration during the pandemic and Covid layoffs have put pressure on employers in almost all industries, including metropolitan and regional areas.
Australia-wide, there were nearly 480,000 job vacancies in late June, quotes compared to just 227,000 at the start of the pandemic.
Australia’s unemployment rate has dropped further than predicted to 3.5 per cent — the lowest rate since 1974
Meanwhile, 494,000 people remain unemployed.
In June the 2022 Workforce Skills Survey found 93 per cent of NSW businesses face workforce shortages.
The latest ABS Australian labour force figures released showed national unemployment fell to 3.5 per cent in June.
That is the lowest rate since August 1974, when it was 2.7 percent.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-f8632030-0eec-11ed-a1e8-dbec3508941c" website so desperate for workers it has FIFO hairdressers