HR and people leaders react to the Jobs and Skills Summit

Following the Jobs and Skills Summit held last week, HR Leader asked thought leaders in the HR arena for their take on what was discussed and achieved.

The Jobs and Skills Summit was on 1 and 2 September. It was organised by the Australian Government’s Treasury office and headed up by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer.

Colin Biggers & Paisley

Paul O'Halloran, partner at Colin Biggers & Paisley shared with HR Leader that the summit revealed: “a very ambitious plan”.

“While the outcomes paper issued by the summit is oblique in detail, if you look closely it contains a very broad roadmap of where the Labor government and unions want to take IR in the near future.”

“There is reference to legislative change relating to unfair contracts for workers; a new pay equity panel in the Fair Work Commission for care and community sector workers; prohibition on pay secrecy clauses; powers to set terms of work for gig workers; the reintroduction of road safety remuneration regulation in the transport industry; multi-employer bargaining across industries and potentially new appointments to the Fair Work Commission from non-employer backgrounds. This is all a very ambitious plan to tilt workplace relations back in favour of employees and unions.”

Mr O’Halloran homed in on ‘multi-employer bargaining’ and why it could be contentious: “A desire by unions and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke for multi-employer bargaining across an entire industry was a significant outcome of the summit, and probably the most controversial agenda item.”

“Multi-employer bargaining is already possible under the Fair Work Act, so implicit in this action item must be an enhanced right for industry wide strikes as part of the proposed reforms, because the Act does not currently permit strike action during multi-employer bargaining.”

Musing on what the summit may have neglected, Mr O’Halloran stated: “There has been a dramatic fall in unionisation over the past 30 years. Most employees in Australia are not union members. The ability to attract staff and fill job vacancies is of critical importance to businesses right now. I didn’t get the sense that there was enough focus on staff attraction and retention strategies at the summit.”

“Small businesses want to find staff who are keen to work, not listen to unions talk about enhancing the rights to strike”.

TQSolutions

Nadine O’Regan, general manager for TQSolutions told the HR Leader: “If we think of Australia as a workplace instead of a nation, then the advice remains the same as I give clients: focus on making your company (country) an amazing place to work and use that competitive advantage to find the right people at the right time – from both inside and outside the company (country). And at the same time, ensure you’re reskilling, upskilling, mobilising and optimising your existing people rather than focusing too heavily on external talent.”

“Unfortunately, while the Skills Summit announced some strong initiatives that will bring about positive change, nothing was announced that will relieve the chronic pain Australian companies are facing right now – Australia’s current talent shortage is among the worst in the world.”

“Speed to implement any of the initiatives will be slow at best. Australia is a nation of bureaucracy. It is hard to get things done.”

On the flip side, Ms O’Regan noted that upping the number of skilled migrants was a positive result: “The increase in skilled migration by 35,000 to 195,000 will be one of the most useful outcomes of this summit, but whether migrants want to relocate to Australia remains to be seen.”

Ms O’Regan would have liked to see more to help women into work: “Another miss was strong initiatives that get more women into the workforce – and quickly. The government needs to make good on its election promise of universal childcare that will enable more women to work.”

Mr O’Halloran however noted that “Female participation in the workforce was a welcome focal point of discussion at the summit.”

“Optimal productivity in the workplace will only be achieved by greater female participation which in turn will rely on higher quality childcare and attracting quality candidates to that profession.”

Sydney Legal Consulting

Trish Ryan, legal director at Sydney Legal Consulting expressed cautious optimism following the summit.

“We were really pleased to see the diversity of representation at the Summit, a real focus on assisting smaller employers, and addressing gender imbalance in Australian workplaces. A focus on flexible work arrangements and intended increased participation for women and First Nations people is encouraging but we will need to see some more detail to understand how this will work – however a commitment in this regard is a great first step.”

Ms Ryan was glad to see the summit talking about everyday workplace concerns, stating: “I was really pleased to see the national focus turn to the issues that industry, employers and workers (and HR professionals!) grapple with each day in the recent Jobs and Skills Summit – there are so many pressures for business and workers and it is great to see those challenges discussed on the national agenda. The summit brought together many experts in their fields and has led to some really positive outcomes.”

Ms Ryan did however note that the summit didn’t seem to address ‘Award compliance’.

“I am yet to see much talk around Award compliance simplification – in our experience, many employers struggle with which Award applies, and how best to ensure they more than meet minimum requirements for all workers – let’s hope that is an area of focus in the future also.”

Small Business Women Australia and Western Sydney Women

Reflecting on the summit, careers expert and the founder of Small Business Women Australia and Western Sydney Women, Amanda Rose, told the HR Leader: “Rather than a scattergun approach to get more people into the workforce to alleviate the labour shortage, the government needs to consider and address the contributing causes of unemployment. These ‘whys’ include why people aren’t enrolling into training courses or education, why apprenticeship uptakes are so low, why they are unemployed in the first place.”

“There needs to be more support to ensure a healthy uptake and retention of those engaged in apprenticeships. As they currently are, apprentices are not being paid enough to entice them to stay in their programs. For mature apprentices in particular, their wages and support loans may not adequately support them in covering living and training costs.”

Mills Oakley

Dr Laura Sowden, Mills Oakley workplace relations, employment and safety partner shared with HR Leader that, “The Jobs and Skills Summit has identified a number of initiatives to address the current labour shortage. Many of these have a direct relevance for HR professionals and we anticipate an increase in HR workload and an enhancement of the business critical nature of HR as a result.”

Dr Sowden noted a wide range of considerations at the summit, listing migration, carer-friendly workplaces, older workers, gender gaps and the Fair Work Act. She said that the summit missed: “any outcome on increased paid parental leave or any reforms to childcare affordability, which were both commitments made during the federal election.”

Considering how the summit will affect HR professionals, Dr Sowden stated: “Business will be required to navigate a more robust and challenging regulatory environment and HR will play a lead role in ensuring that employers meet their obligations and minimise labour management risk. However, given the cost-conscious nature of business, we cannot take any expansion of HR teams for granted. This may leave HR professionals with an increased workload but not necessarily any additional resources: the old adage of ‘doing more with less’ will again come to the fore.”

Blackmores Group

In conversation with HR Leader, Nicole Mason, who looks after change management at Blackmores Group, said: “Some of the positives I see from the Jobs Summit are the emphasis on expanding support for those in situations of domestic and sexual violence, and the strengthened requirement for business with over 100 employees to publicly report on their gender pay gap and those with over 500 to commit to measurable targets.”

“The proof will be in the pudding though – whether the impetus to report on gender pay gaps is enough to actually make a meaningful dent in them and to then back that up with further support to dual-income families in making childcare more affordable and accessible.”

“My hesitation with pay gap reporting continues to be that it primarily only focuses on gender – is there enough focus on other pay gaps such as First Nations, ethnicity in general, etc?”

EST10

The founder and managing director of EST10, Roxanne Calder, told HR Leader that it’s time for change: “The Jobs and Skills Summit increased awareness of Australia’s acute labour and employment market issues. But we also needed radical change and thinking.”

“The same as the pandemic did to us, so too should we turn the current skills shortage mindset on its head. Proposed actions and initiatives, such as modernising Australia’s workplace laws offer a potential good course of action but require a nimble shift, for implementation and education for all parties.”

“The focus on women, first nations people, regional Australians and culturally and linguistically diverse people is good to see. Admittedly, it sounds like a familiar narrative, however, we might have more strength to tackle and produce significant results.”

Ms Calder called out that we need to be doing more to keep retirees in the workforce: “For all the talk of removing barriers, the biggest blockade remains – that of allowing our retirees carte blanche to work. This is the one segment we have not provided the opportunity to work.”

She added: “Accessing the untapped potential of our older Australians immediately assists both our skills and training issues. Training alongside mature, experienced, wise workers provides value beyond a TAFE course. The additional $4,000 payment is negligible, not even slightly assisting the current skills issue.”

Readers who would like to learn more about the summit may wish to view the below resources:

• https://treasury.gov.au/employment-whitepaper/jobs-summit
• https://treasury.gov.au/publication/2022-302672
• https://www.pm.gov.au/media/outcomes-jobs-and-skills-summit