- The Property Council of Australia has concluded an imbalance of skilled labour may be costing Western Australia economic growth and development
- According to the statement by the Property Council, the job demand has fallen short in the face of growth, where many posts and projects are left incomplete
- But according to the statement by the Property Council, the job demand has fallen short in the face of growth, where many posts and projects have been left on hold
- A survey conducted earlier this year found that out of 800 surveyed people from Victoria and New South Wales, 10 per cent of people would strongly consider moving west
- WA results from the most recent survey showed the most positive change for the current impacts in COVID-19 in the past year
WA’s property industry is growing more concerned about the state’s economic prospects and the difficulty of managing greater workloads with a chronic scarcity of competent personnel, according to the latest ANZ/Property Council study.
Property Council’s West Australian Executive Sandra Brewer said businesses are sliding between optimism and pessimism as they grapple with the severe shortage of skilled labour in the state.
The national property body conducted an Australia wide survey and found despite the property sector’s expectations for economic growth, forward work schedules, staffing levels and State Government performance which all declined this past quarter, overall confidence increased slightly.
As part of the post-pandemic economic recovery of WA, property development and construction were made a priority by the State Government.
But according to the statement by the Property Council, the job demand has fallen short in the face of growth, where many posts and projects have been left on hold.
“The availability of skills and labour has been a critical concern for the property industry for most of 2021 and the problem has become even more acute in the past two to three months,” Ms Brewer said
“Increasingly we are hearing of projects being at risk or placed on hold”.
WA’s road forward
The national survey conducted by the property body found that out of 800 surveyed people from Victoria and New South Wales, 10 per cent of people would strongly consider moving west.
“Now is the time for Western Australia to be bold and assertive about growing migration. As a State, we have a long history of attracting high-quality expatriates to fill skills gaps,” Ms Brewer said.
“Never before has attracting talent to WA been so important, to ensure we continue on a positive economic path,” she added.
WA results from the most recent survey showed the most positive change for the current impacts in COVID-19 in the past year.
Conversely, the state performance index for WA has fallen significantly from previous quarters but remains to be positive overall in comparison to the average across all states and territories, which showed an overall negative performance of the state in the last quarter.