Telecommunications
Telstra out of touch on pay, redundancies
(25 May 2010) The current upturn in Australian economic conditions means employers will now have to work hard to retain skilled staff, a recent survey of 750 Australian companies suggests.
But Telstra doesn’t seem to have got the message.
According to Australian Institute of Management chief executive David Wakely employers will now have to perform a difficult balancing act to find ways of keeping good people without incurring huge wage blowouts.
The survey conducted by the AIM found that 90% of companies surveyed were expecting to have to pay higher wages in the coming year while half of them were also expecting a boost to permanent staff, up from 39.6% the previous year.
Mr. Wakely said that employers had had the upper hand during the two years after the Global Economic Crisis but the recovery in the economy was now tilting conditions in favour of employees.
“Staff who have tightened their belts in leaner times will again be on the hunt for new opportunities and bigger pay packets,” he said.
The survey also found that a third of large companies were having trouble finding skilled workers despite an unemployment rate of 5.8% in mid-2009.
“With the skills shortage tipped to worsen, employers need to move sooner rather than later to lock in their best and brightest in those sectors susceptible to skill shortages,” Mr. Wakely said.
Given Telstra’s position on pay and its continuing redundancy programme, perhaps it’s time the company took a look at the AIM’s advice.
For more information, contact the CEPU via feedback@cepu.asn.au