As the new financial year rolls in, wages remain stagnant across various sectors. The average salary is currently around $116,000, compared to $135,000 in 2013. Despite this, there are promising prospects in some sectors in the years ahead as business conditions strengthen.
The unemployment rate was reported at 5.4% in July, the lowest it’s been since November 2012. Employment increased by 50,900, surpassing the median forecast of 16,500.
The impact of Visa changes.
Due to last year’s visa changes, hiring candidates without residency is almost impossible. The FMCG sector has been heavily impacted as local talent is becoming the only option for most businesses. Companies taking advantage of sponsorship possibilities are gaining access to a larger pool of top talent.
Up-skilling in digital.
While the rise of digital hasn’t impacted the market as much as expected, many candidates are still upskilling in digital through professional development courses to help future-proof their careers. This comes despite some companies cutting digital spend in light of uncertainty over ROI, for example, P&G cut over $100M in digital spend with no negative impact on sales and Unilever cut digital investment by 59%.
Moves back to the CBD.
We are seeing more companies move back to the CBD (Unilever, RB, Pfizer) in the hope of attracting a stronger talent pool. Location continues to be an important factor for candidates considering new roles. The impact of public transport closures in Macquarie Park in Sydney in late 2018/19 is likely to further impact hiring for companies in this area.
What will Industry 4.0 mean for Operational Excellence?
With the fourth industrial revolution high on the agenda, Six Degrees brought together industry thought leader, Ishan Galapathy with senior representatives from the FMCG, Pharmaceutical and Manufacturing sectors. Termed Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution promises to advance the manufacturing sector with the Internet-of-Things (IoT), big data and cyber-physical systems. Discussion at the event centred on achieving Operational Excellence in Industry 4.0 through mastery of problem-solving techniques, improving procurement practices, analysis of loss streams and capital investment for critical equipment.
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