The headlines across Australia in June last year were generally pretty bullish: the nation’s economy was booming once again. Lockdowns had loosened, COVID numbers were down, and businesses and individuals had begun spending with abandon, hauling the $2 trillion economy back up to pre-pandemic levels.
Some even better news: unemployment rates were actually lower than they had been before the crisis caused disruption to just about every industry in early 2020. Well, what a difference a year makes.
As we now know, the pandemic was far from over in Australia and New Zealand, and lockdowns were to be a continual feature for months to come. In turn, borders remained shuttered, workers left their jobs in increasing numbers and numerous businesses were forced to close their doors. All of which has now led to an alarming new cross-industry crisis: a shortage of labour.
In Australia, for example, with unemployment still at record low levels, employers are struggling to fill upwards of 400,000 jobs, while job ads in New Zealand show demand for labour is also at record highs. While the leaders of both countries are taking steps to address it, there is increasing anxiety at the scale and scope of the problem.
Or, more correctly, problems.
Because it’s become clear that the wider crisis is made up of smaller symptomatic issues, including a skills shortage, a paucity of overseas workers, the vulnerability of ageing populations, and worldwide trouble with supply chains. Like the pandemic itself – cited as one of the
main catalysts of the shortage – this crisis is a truly global one.
So what can your business do to alleviate the effects?
“Prominent hotel chains are unable to operate at full capacity because of staff shortages, despite renewed numbers of international visitors.”
AN UNSUSTAINABLE MODEL
If you run a hospitality or healthcare business, you’re probably already doing more with less.
Stretched to the limits, prominent hotel chains are unable to operate at full capacity because of staff shortages, despite renewed numbers of international visitors. Applicants for hospitality jobs are at a two-year low, and restaurants and bars in Australia are even recruiting from overseas, insisting there is a lack of local talent.
It’s been equally tough for hospitals and aged care facilities to find new workers, while supply chain issues around equipment and medicines have added to the complexity of the problem. All of which adds up to a model that sees pressure put on remaining staff to make up the shortfall; a model which is undesirable and unsustainable.
How, then, can we save resource time and take demand off staff? One solution could lie in streamlining your ordering processes.
A NEW ORDER?
In practice, sourcing products from a single supplier saves time, effort and money – whether you are purchasing medical consumables, cleaning and hygiene products, kitchen tools, ingredients and equipment, or tableware and disposable food packaging. It could also help with the supply chain problems that, combined with the issues of staffing, continue to wreak havoc across both the hospitality and healthcare industries.
Nearly 40 per cent of Australian businesses are currently experiencing some form of supply chain interruption, while New Zealand’s vulnerability to global disruptions has been further exposed, and led to rocketing inflation.
Given its scale and leverage, Bunzl has been able to absorb some of these supply chain shocks in the past few years, while helping customers navigate the pressure on supply procurement. By ordering from a single stockist such as Bunzl, you can instantly cut pressure on your workforce by consolidating multiple suppliers into one.
This kind of efficient approach may just make a difference to the morale of those who are still employed – a crucial factor in these oh-so-strange times.
