Australia is facing a skills shortage as the number of vacancies in the accounting sector continues to grow. There are currently an estimated 9,000 vacancies for accountants, with thousands more of a shortage in other sectors including nursing, disability care, and retail. Overall, employers are struggling to find suitable workers for over 480,000 vacancies at a time when unemployment is at a record low of 3.4%.
CA ANZ CEO, Ainslie van Onselen, is recommending that government step up its efforts in facilitating skilled migration. She is urging the government to provide more resources to clear up the skilled visa processing backlog and continued prioritisation of skilled migrants in the migration program. She noted that the migration of finance and accounting professionals was important as the roles of these professionals would support post-pandemic growth. She however added that migration was a short-term solution.
To further support the sector, she also recommended doing more to enhance the growth of domestic training and education. Enrolment in accounting degrees was found to have fallen by about 3,000 students in 2021, at par with reduced Commonwealth contributions and an increase in student contributions by $3,000 per year.
Micro-credentials are a viable means of bridging the gap as they allow students to acquire mini qualifications in a shorter amount of time. The Jobs and Skills summit is expected to look at ways of fast-tracking micro credential schemes and urge employers to embrace this option by hiring workers that though not fully qualified, can be encouraged to commit to lifelong learning.
To further boost productivity and workforce participation, Onselen also urged greater support for older workers and women. She said it was not just an issue of salaries, but also other workplace concerns such as bonuses, promotions, and training opportunities that were affecting the gender pay gap. She is encouraging approaches that will help close the gap and provide better access to parental leave, affordable childcare and childhood education.
Onselen also said that there was a need to switch from an annual contributions cap to superannuation for a lifetime cap to avoid penalising women who were more able to make larger contributions in their later years due to having taken time off for child and elder care in formative years.
CPA Australia also supports the view that having a shortage of accountants and advisers can have a detrimental impact on the economy. According to CPA spokeswoman, Dr Jane Rennie, the shortage was creating wage pressure which was, in turn, adding to the cost consumers pay for advisory services. CPA Australia is endorsing the proposal for skilled migration, training and small business support to be used to help ease the crisis.
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