AUSTRALIA FORGET ABOUT THE SHORTAGE OF FOREIGN SKILLED WORKERS EVEN THE LOCAL AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT IS FACING SHORTFALL OF 60000 STAFF IN REPLACEMENT OF RETIRING EMPLOYEES AS ONE THIRD OF PRESENT EMPLOYEES ARE MORE THAN 50 YEARS OLD UNLESS NEW TALENT IS RECRUITED Published on Mon, 05/08/2013, 03:37:53 Councils across Australia are facing an unprecedented shortfall in replacements for retiring baby boomers with the local government sector cautioning it could soon be up to 60,000 staff short unless new talent is recruited to backfill anticipated departures. Around one third of the nation’s 200,000 local government employees are now estimated to be more than 50 years-old, a figure that equates to 60,000 employees from the “Baby Boomer” generation that will soon need to be replaced - a situation that presents serious staffing challenges in terms of both imminent retirements and the potential loss of valuable corporate memory. In terms of scale, the number of local government employees estimated to be aged 50-plus is just below the total workforce of Australia Post, which last tallied its workforce to be around 33,000. To help stem the brain drain, Federal Minister for Local Government, Catherine King has formally launched a strategy aimed at making councils more attractive workplaces for new recruits as the sector seeks to offset the predicted depletion its ranks. Known as the National Local Government Workforce Strategy 2013–2020, the paper has been released on behalf of Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA), as a consortium partner of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG). Between them, the organisations are trying to overhaul the image of local government as a workplace by selling councils as more attractive places to work while at the same time addressing the retention of personnel.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 01:57:09 +0000