Mike's Minute: Why the increased cost of labour will hurt our economy

In America at the moment there is a lot of talk about the “K” shaped economy. 

Car dealers see it. If you have a good, safe job, good income and you're in the markets invested in AI (before it all pops) you are feeling good. 

You are the upward bit of the “K”. You're buying a flash new car with carbon add-ons. 

If you've been laid off, or about to be by a robot, you hate AI because you never earned enough to buy stock anyway and your SNAP payment hasn’t come through because of the shutdown and you're holding onto your car, not to mention sweating on making ends meet, you are the downward bit of the “K”. 

It looks like we have a similar story here. Recruiters Robert Walters are already warning of the increased cost of labour in the recovery because people with the skills that are going to be in demand can charge more. 

Why? 

Because we are short of them. Why? Because the others are in Australia. 

In ideal times, as an economy recovers you hoover up those who have lost their jobs when times were tight. 

This time anyone who was marketable left and what we have, sadly, are a group of people who it would appear are not available to take part as growth returns. 

Yes, there are plenty of unemployed – 5.3% as of last week. Not to mention a growing number of so-called "underutilised". But as far as skills go, that’s where we have an issue. 

Not everywhere or everyone of course. But it's becoming increasingly obvious that there are too many under-skilled, under-qualified people in this country. 

That is sadly what eventuates when you have system that spits kids out at 15, 16, or 17-year-old without a pathway to success. 

When times are good any number of people get swept up for bits and pieces-type jobs that lots of employers can afford to fork out on. 

But they are also the first to go. And when the rest of the talent bails, the ones without the skills aren't the ones to fill the growth areas, hence we will once again rely on imported labour, which this time around may or may not be available depending on whether they see us as a cool place to be. 

If they don’t, that weighs on recovery and the speed at which we pick up. 

Robert Walters seem to suggest it's an issue. 

For those who stayed and have the skills though, you will be in a new car before you know it. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In America at the moment. So there's a lot of
talk about the K, the K shaped economy. Right. Car
dealers are seeing it. If you've got a good, safe job,
good income, you're in the markets, investing in AI before
it all pops. Of course, you're feeling good. You're up. Yeah,
you're up. Well, you're the up part of the K.
So you're buying a flash new car with carbon ad
ons and all that sort of stuff. Now, if you've
been laid off or about to be by a robot,

(00:23):
you hate II AI are because you never ended enough
to buy any stock in the first place, and your
snap payment hasn't come through because of the shutdown. You're
holding onto your car, not to mention sweating making ends meet.
You're the downward part of the K. You see what
I'm saying here. So it looks like we may have
a similar story here in this country. Because the recruiters,
Robert Walters are already warning of the increased cost of
labor in the recovery. Our recovery are because people with

(00:45):
the skills that are going to be in demand, they
can charge more. Why because we're short of them, Why
because the others in Australia. So in ideal times, as
an economy recovers, you hoover up those who have lost
their jobs when the times were tight. So this time,
anyone who is marketable left the country, and what we have, sadly,
are a group of people who, it would appear or

(01:05):
not available to take part as growth returns. I mean, yes,
there are plenty of unemployed five point three percent, not
to mention a growing number of the so called underutilized.
But as far as skills go, that's where we have
an issue. Not everywhere and not everyone, of course, but
it is becoming increasingly obvious that there are too many underskilled,
underqualified people in this country. And that is, sadly what
eventuates when you have a system that spits kids out

(01:27):
at fifteen or sixteen or seventeen without a pathway to success.
When times are good, any number of people get swept
up for bits and pieces type jobs. Lots of employers
can afford to fork out on those sort of jobs,
but they're the first to go, of course, and when
the rest of the talent bails, the ones without the
skills aren't the ones to fill the growth areas. Hence
we will once again rely on imported labor, which this

(01:49):
time around may or may not be available to us,
depending on whether they still see us as a cool
place to be. If they don't, numbers would suggest they aren't.
That weighs on recovery and the speed of which we
pick up. Robert Walter seems to suggest this is going
to be an issue, but for those who stayed, and
if you've got the skills, you'll be in a new
car before you know it. For more from The Mic

(02:10):
Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks at B from
six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.