The so-called talent shortage has been widely documented in Australia and internationally. Partly as a result of the global pandemic and the associated changes in working conditions, and partly as a result of natural progress as the world continues to digitize, the fact remains that – through traditional measures, there is a lack of experienced and skilled individuals who are capable of a wide variety of roles in Australia and New Zealand.
The previous Australian federal government under Scott Morrison launched initiatives to address the skills gap, including the skills priority (SPL) and hiring a special envoy for global talent – and the New Zealand government’s skills shortage list is doing a similar job. However, the problem remains that there isn’t enough local talent to meet demand in some industries without significant white-collar migration.
For example, ACS Australia’s Digital Pulse 2021 report states that an additional 60,000 technology workers per year are needed in Australia to drive the local industry forward.
However, does this necessarily mean there is a talent shortage? The world no longer runs on traditional lines – maybe we should broaden our search. Labor conventions change, and for companies to succeed, they must evolve together. Perhaps the shortage of talent is a myth? Today we have options that will help us overcome talent shortages if we know how and where to look.
Traditionally, a job meant working fixed hours and days at an agreed location. However, this has changed drastically in recent years.
When necessary, people quickly switched to remote working, and the world kept spinning; jobs continued to exist, and companies made a profit. Many employees realized that they like to work from home. A global employee survey conducted by Globalization Partners found that 63 percent of companies would make remote work a regular part of the worldwide pandemic.
Aside from how this worked out for companies, individual employees liked working remotely more than the daily commute. According to Hays statistics, more than 75 percent of Australians will in the future request that at least some of their work be done from a home office.
The pandemic also spawned the “great layoff”. New working conditions, new experiences, and more time to think all affected the overall satisfaction people felt in their lives. People worldwide have quit their jobs to travel or start new businesses they’ve dreamed of for years. This has also had consequences on the availability of talent.
Now is the time to take this evolution one step further and embrace the concept of limitless talent. We have already accepted that an employee can no longer sit at his desk in a central office. So the organization can’t find the skilled employees it needs in its living room? Look further away. The perfect talent fit can be on the other side of the world – it doesn’t matter anymore.
The traditional barriers for companies looking to grow their global teams remotely no longer exist.
Companies can find talent in almost any country worldwide by working with a global HR platform in the employer of record (EOR) model. The platform saves businesses the hassle and risk of setting up a legal entity and can get them set up in hours with a fully legal, localized contract.
By leveraging the latest remote work technology, such as an AI-enabled, automated and compliant global employment platform, companies can grow revenue faster, improve access to global talent and minimize risk. An EWC puts that talent on its payroll, which has already been set up in the country. The employee can be ready to work the next day with a watertight contract rather than weeks or months later.
The rise of HR technology has given companies AND individuals the power to work how they want. On the company side, the talent pool is no longer limited to people living in the same region. The entire area, state, country, or even the world is now a viable source of that talent.
Global employment technology empowers individuals to live their lives wherever they want. They can use their skills from a home office, take a gap year abroad, keep their jobs, and even lead a nomadic life. Now more than ever, finding that elusive balance between career and life is possible.
