Unveil hidden impacts of inflation on Australian accounting firms. From major problems to unexpected challenges, grab key takeaways for your firm’s success
Problems With The Offshore Labour Hire Model
I spoke to the director of an Australian firm last week who had staff resource issues, and he’d indicated he had both bookkeepers and compliance staff in an offshore location. He’d had these staff for a couple of years and had trained them up in both SMSF and compliance (company, trust partnership, sole trader and individual returns). This firm had …
Remote working seems to be here to stay during challenging talent acquisition times
The AFR recently noted that Bosses no longer mind (much) if you work from home and this seems to be driven from a recent survey which noted the top concerns of senior executives included: Employees working from home occupied a health 3rd position in the prior year’s survey, likely due to the unsettling times as a result of covid, coupled …
Australian accountants are on notice: workers at home are to be replaced by robots
It’s hard to imagine in this never ending climate of tax changes, but there’s a clear vision that some workers are going to be replaced by automation. While frustratingly many of us spend hours on the phone clicking through the many options to get us to a real human, or struggling with the Customs lines on arrival into Australia, it …
Why a $50,000 pay rise probably won’t secure you an accounting resource
More recently there has been news articles of the high salary increases demanded and received by accountants and IT workers who are in short supply in the economy. There was an article mentioning that $50,000 was the starting point to attract a resource, but it might not be enough to seal the deal. There have been rumblings in the area …
The Australian accounting shortage is likely to last 7-10 years
Australian accounting staff shortages are likely to exist for 5 plus years, and one pundit recently suggested a shortage stretching from 7-10 years. This staff shortage requires accountants to rethink what services they should offer, and which clients they should be servicing. With an ongoing shortage of talent in this space, paying to attract employees and retain the best ones …
Are skilled workers the solution to Australia’s accounting shortage
It seems the new Australian government is refocussing on restarting the permanent skilled workers, giving them top priority. However, reading further into this, the government is going to prioritise the processing of almost 60,000 permanent visa applications lodged by skilled workers based overseas, in a bid to rapidly reduce areas of dire shortage such as health, education and aged care. …
Job vacancies at all-time high
It’s a difficult time to be looking for more accounting resources. We’re seeing increased pressures on accounting wages domestically due to the three prong factors of limited skilled short term and long term immigration exacerbated by budget cuts in the home affairs department (responsible for processing skilled visas), reduction of international students in the Australian universities, and high job vacancy …
The worker shortage continues
Australian accounting, finance and legal professional services staff are being offered pay rises of up to $40,000 (on a $90,000 salary) to stay in their current jobs, and up to $100,000 sign-on bonuses. Costs of hiring have more than doubled and employers are forced to wait an average six weeks to hire new employees, potentially delaying growth plans for some …
Delay of 3-5 years before immigrants, international students and seasonal workers return to pre-pandemic levels?
Despite the Australian borders being open, there has been an unremarkable number of new immigrants flooding into Australia, with an indication that Australia might not be winning the competitive global war for talent. There are indications that there is a slowdown in offshore visa processing, with older and more experienced workers being discouraged and an out-of-date priority jobs list. There …
