Record low 2.5 per cent Albany unemployment causing bigger issues to boil under surface says ACCI chief

Staffing issues in Albany and Great Southern look set to continue well into the future with data from the December quarter of last year showing unemployment in the City at just 2.5 per cent. The figure is the lowest on record since analysts .id started compiling the quarterly data at the end of 2010, and is 1.2 per cent lower than the December quarter of 2021. The information provider’s figure is based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Labour Force surveys and the Department of Employment’s Small Area Labour Markets. It shows only 522 people were unemployed out of the City’s total labour force of 20,721. Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Kristen Pyrz-Brown said staffing issues, compounded by low unemployment figures, could lead to burnout. She said it was particularly the case for small to medium businesses, which made up the “bulk” of the city’s businesses. “When the owner-operator is required to be in their business so much more, the next crisis we’re potentially facing is a mental health crisis if it’s not already bubbling under the surface,” she said. During the same December quarter, unemployment was 3.3 per cent for regional WA and 3.7 per cent Australia-wide. A figure of three per cent is considered to be “full employment” within the City. Ms Pyrz-Brown said “quite a few” members were approaching Perth migration agents to attract foreign workers. She said a planned Designate Area Migration Agreement would help if approved, but worker shortages in the region were a “right now crisis”. She said she also believed childcare issues in Albany were holding back “untapped potential”. “Tapping into that could involve employers having to find alternative arrangements that involve child care and thinking outside the square of what that might look like,” she said. “Maybe there could be some more remote working by reshaping and re-imagining what can be done from home instead of coming into the office is another option. “That wouldn’t be any help for our retail and hospitality trades needing front-of-house staff though.” Ms Pyrz-Brown also urged the community to be patient and respectful of businesses facing staffing issues. “We’re all in this together,” she said. “With the pressure of school holidays and additional tourists and the additional output that’s required, we definitely need to have front of mind that we’re all human, all just trying our best.”