Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences Bibra Lake Presented: April 2009

Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences

Bibra LakePresented: April 2009

Cockburn SLA

Cockburn SLA

Bibra Lake

South West Corridor

Bibra Lake

Demographic Profile

Source: 2001 Census, 2006 Census

Cockburn ESA SW Corridor WA

Working Age Population (WAP)

(2006 Census)

51 000 205 200 1 327 100

% of WAP aged 45 – 64 years

(2006 Census)

34.0% 37.1% 37.1%

WAP growth

(2001 to 2006 Census)12.5% 9.4% 7.7%

Labour Force Overview

Source: 2006 Census, 2001 Census, DEEWR Small Area Labour Markets, December 2008, ABS Labour Force Survey, February 2009; Centrelink administrative data, December 2008

Cockburn SLA SW Corridor WA

Employment Growth

(2001 to 2006 Census)

20.0% 16.2% 12.9%

Unemployment rate

3.2%(December 2008)

4.0%(February 2009)

4.2%(February 2009)

% of WAP on Centrelink payments(Centrelink admin data, Dec 2008; 2006 Census)

13.0% 13.1% 13.6%

Industry Profile

Source: 2001 Census, 2006 Census

Proportion of total employment

Cockburn SLA

(2006 Census)

SW Corridor

(2006 Census)

WA

(2006 Census)

Cockburn SLAInter Census

Growth (01-06)

SW Corridor

Inter Census

Growth (01-06)

Retail Trade 15.1% 14.4% 14.0% 11.4% 9.5%

Manufacturing 14.3% 12.2% 9.9% 12.9% 10.6%

Health & Community Services

10.4% 10.8% 10.4% 37.9% 25.7%

Property & Business Services

9.4% 10.8% 10.7% 18.6% 12.1%

Construction 9.4% 8.8% 9.0% 39.5% 44.1%

The survey was conducted in February 2009

202 employers responded, majority in the Retail Trade and Manufacturing Industries

67% of responding businesses had remained the same size over the 3 months prior to the survey

• 15% had increased staff numbers• 18% had decreased staff numbers

Bibra Lake – Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences

Source: DEEWR, Bibra Lake Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences, February 2009

54% of employers had recruited or attempted to recruit• 28% solely due to turnover

• 35% solely due to growth

• 37% due to both turnover and growth

2% (or 15) of 636 vacancies remained unfilled

8% of employers reported one or more unfilled vacancies

Recruitment Experiences – 12 months prior to survey


53% of recruiting employers reported recruitment was difficult

Reasons for difficulty:• Lack of applicants• Lack of skilled applicants• Wages not competitive• Competition with mining sector

23% of employers said public transport was a problem for attracting and retaining staff



75% of filled vacancies were filled with local job seekers

21% of recruiting employers had employed staff from overseas

• 48% through an employer sponsored visa

44% of employers had vacancies that they were not able to fill on the first attempt



Success filling recent vacancies


45

42

39

2

3

10

7

1

1

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Higher skilled occupations

Medium skilled occupations

Lower skilled occupations

Skill

Lev

el o

f mos

t re

cent

vac

ancy

Vacancies - Most recently attempted to fill

Vacancies filled with suitablestaff

Vacancies filled with staff whorequired development

Vacancies unfilled

Why job seekers needed development


54%

38%

23%

8%

8%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Required training in skills notspecific to the job i.e. soft

skills

Required training in skillsspecific to the job

Required training on systemsor machinery used in the job

Hired as an apprentice ortrainee

Needed development due toa lack of experience

Reas

ons

job

seek

ers

requ

ired

dev

elop

men

t

Proportion of employers who recruited job seekers who needed development

Recruitment methods used


46%

35%

16%

19%

46%

34%

40%

9%

31%

29%

26%

3%

41%

33%

27%

10%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Newpaper/s

Word of mouth/ approached by jobseeker

Internet

Recruitment agency

Me

tho

d o

f re

cru

itm

en

t u

se

d

Proportion of Employers




All Occupations

Competition for recent vacancies


3.7

11.0

6.1

6.6

1.4

4.8

3.0

2.9

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0




Total

Skill

leve

l of m

ost r

ecen

t vac

ancy

Average applicants

Average number of applicants per vacancy

Averabe number of suitable applicants pervacancy

Reasons applicants were unsuitable


67%

50%

0%

6%

74%

26%

35%

18%

56%

19%

13%

13%

67%

32%

16%

12%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Insufficient experience to performjob duties

Insufficient qualifications ortraining to perform job duties

Poor attitude or lacked basicwork readiness skills

Inadequate communication/ teamwork skills

Main

Re

as

on

s A

pp

lic

an

ts R

ate

d U

ns

uit

ab

le i

n M

ost

Re

ce

nt

Va

ca

nc

y





All Occupations

Employability skills - what were employers looking for?

41%

31%

31%

28%

28%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Enthusiasm

Communication

Teamwork

Reliability

Motivation

Pers

on

ali

ty t

rait

s

Proportion of employers


Employer emphasis on personality traits/technical skills when filling recent vacancies


68%

83%

86%

32%

17%

11%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%




Occ

upati

on g

roup

by

skill

leve

l

Proportion of employers who recruited in 12 months prior to the surveyPersonality Traits and/or Qualities

Technical Skills

Reasons recruitment was difficult – most recent vacancy


60%

40%

12%

4%

14%

43%

43%

29%

22%

56%

22%

22%

44%

44%

20%

12%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Technical skill requirements for job

Tight labour market/ not enoughapplicants

Wages/ remuneration notcompetitive

Soft skill requirements of job

Reas

ons

occu

patio

n w

as d

ifficu

lt to

fill





All occupations

Difficult to fill occupationsStructural Steel and Welding Tradespersons

Sales Assistants

Metal Fitters and Machinists

Electricians

Cabinetmakers

General Clerks

Storepersons


50% of recruiting employers had retention strategies.

Retention strategies most commonly reported were:• Increasing wages• Providing flexible hours• Providing development and training

Retention strategies


Apprentices and trainees

25% of employers currently had an apprentice or trainee in their business

16% of employers will recruit an apprentice or trainee

21% of employers expect to take on fewer apprentices or trainees in 12 months following the survey


Provision of staff training


47%

25%

23%

17%

14%

8%

5%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

External offsite

Internal informal

Internal formal

External onsite

Other TAFE or Government

Group Training Company

Online learning

Tra

inin

g D

elivery


Factors influencing choice of training provider

31%

30%

25%

18%

17%

10%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Course content

Flexibility of deliverytime

Convenient location

Reputation of provider

Past experience

Quality of teaching staff

Facto

rs i

nfl

uen

cin

g t

yp

e o

f tr

ain

ing

used



25% of employers expect to recruit in the 12 months following the survey

• 43% of this recruitment is anticipated to occur in the next 3 months• 61% anticipate employment growth, in 12 months following survey• 41% anticipate replacing staff, in the 12 months following the survey

72% of employers surveyed anticipated that recruitment will become easier in the 12 months following the survey due to an increase in the number of applicants

Recruitment Expectations –12 months following the survey


Recruitment Expectations –12 months following the survey

17% of employers surveyed were uncertain about recruitment in the 12 months following the survey. The most common concerns were:

• a fall in demand for their products and/or services• pressure on business cash flow and/or finance

10% of employers surveyed expected to reduce staff numbers in the 12 months following the survey

• Most common reductions in Sales Assistant roles


Business Challenges – 12 months following the survey

57% of employers surveyed didn’t expect to encounter any business challenges in the 12 months following the survey

The most common challenges identified were:• Changes in the structure of the market• Reduced business activity• Keeping existing customers• Cash flow


Summary

Overall, employers reported:

•Very low proportion of unfilled vacancies

•Lower than average recruitment difficulty

•An emphasis on the soft skills of applicants

•High numbers of applicants

•Low recruitment expectations

•Anticipated ease in difficulty recruiting


Documents

Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences Bibra Lake Presented: April 2009