Permanent labour shortage forecast

SYDNEY - The ageing of Australia's population will lead to permanent labour shortages across many industries by 2010, a report says.

Employment solutions company Drake International said the shortages would make it much harder for businesses to maintain productivity levels and meet demand.
As a result, Australia's gross domestic produce (GDP) could fall by 1.5 per cent over the next 40 years.

Drake's white paper, The Age Chasm - Successfully Managing Age in Your Organisation, showed growth in labour supply would be firmly concentrated in the group aged 45 and over for the foreseeable future.

"Severe labour shortages are already being felt in the skilled trades and the automotive, education, health and transport and distribution sectors." Drake said it expected this trend to become more widespread over the next five years because of Australia's falling fertility rate and immigration levels.

"This could lead to permanent shortages, as the number of new people entering the workforce declines while the baby-boomer cohort retires."

Drake national marketing manager Andrew Dingjan said Australia's labour market composition would change dramatically over the next few years.

"We estimate 85 per cent of all workforce growth will be supplied by people aged over 45 by 2012, up from 32 per cent in 1992," Dingjan said. "This is a phenomenal shift in just 20 years."

He said organisations were largely unaware of the impact the trend would have on their business. A well-planned response was fundamental to business continuity.

- AAP