I wrote this report to help CEO's in the Australian market understand local recruitment trends. There is a growing gap in the Australian market when it comes to skilled workers. Baby Boomers are moving towards retirement and the pool of skilled graduates is shrinking. Basic supply and demand suggests that Australian business will struggle to recruit skilled candidates over the next 5-10 years. I can help CEO's use this knowledge to create proactive recruitment strategies to mitigate these challenges.

1. LinkedIn Study
‘5 reasons CEOs should look at talent management like an
economist’

2. 5 reasons CEOs should look at talent management like an economist
Introduction
Ronan Mahon
Talent Solutions Consultant
LinkedIn
I am delighted to be sending you this in-depth
study designed specifically for CEOs, the
objective of which is to assist Australian
businesses in identifying the supply and
demand gaps in the local skilled labour market,
and give CEOs the knowledge to fill these gaps
and overcome recruitment challenges.
We have identified you as a recipient for this
study due to your strong corporate presence
on the LinkedIn platform. This may be the
number of employees you have on the
platform, the number of followers you have on
your corporate page or the sheer volume of
traffic your employees and company page
receive each month.
Economic conditions in Australia over the past
20 years have been extremely favourable. A
prosperous economy has led to a number of
key trends in the employment market, one of
which is the balance of power now sitting with
the employee. Employees have more
opportunities and are more likely to move
roles a number of times throughout their
careers, at a cost to employers.
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Another key trend in the Australian workforce is the
increasingly aging population. As Baby Boomers move
towards retirement there is an evident skills gap
developing in the market which isn’t being closed by
the lower number of graduates moving into the
workforce.
There is also an increasing gap when it comes to
communication between employers and future
employees. Traditional communication methods such
as newspapers and job boards are now failing to reach
potential candidates. The modern candidate also has
access to much more information about employers.
The candidate of today is researching potential
employers on social media and mobile platforms.
Getting your employment brand and value
proposition in front of the right people through the
appropriate medium is becoming increasingly more
challenging and more important.
Using the findings of this study we have established
some key recommendation around the 5 major trends
we are seeing emerging in the the Australian
marketplace. Without action around these key trends
we believe Australian businesses may struggle when it
comes to attracting and retaining talent, thus
impacting future business growth.

3. 5 reasons CEOs should look at talent management like an economist
1. The power lies with the job seeker
More Australians employed than ever before.
At 11.5 million, Australia currently has the
highest number of people in employment in its
history.
More Jobs advertised than ever before.
Statistically there have been 400% more jobs
advertised in 2013 than there were in 2000.
What could this mean for your business?
This indicates that the balance of power lies
with the employee due simply to supply and
demand. As an employer your goal should be
to attract and retain a higher quality of
employee who is likely to stay with the
organization for a longer period of time and
achieve better results. How will your business
do this over the coming decade given the
increased demand for labour?
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4. 5 reasons CEOs should look at talent management like an economist
2. Candidate churn is inevitable but controllable
What are you doing to retain your best
employees?
2 million Australians are likely to leave their jobs
in the next 12 months.
How can influence an employee’s decision?
80% of staff turnover is in the employer’s control
with only 20% of staff citing external factors as a
reason for leaving a role.
What could this mean for your business?
Retaining the best staff should be a clearly
defined goal for any organization. Statistically,
better quality hires are retained longer. You can
control churn by looking at methods of hiring
better quality staff and monitoring internal
factors affecting their decision to stay.
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5. 5 reasons CEOs should look at talent management like an economist
3. The working population is getting older
How is an aging workforce going to affect your
company in the next 5 years?
Australia currently has the highest participation in
the workforce for the 55+ age group in 30 years.
What could this mean for your business?
This could mean that you will have more staff
retiring in the next 5-10 years. Strategically your
business must plan to replace these people or
provide adequate succession plans for your best
staff and key roles.
There are less people joining the workforce
How are you preparing for a major skills gap?
What could this mean for your business?
Australia had become accustomed to a predictable
working population pool that was expanding at
100-150k new workers every year. This is no
longer the case. Businesses also report that
younger employees simply do not have the skills to
replace senior candidates.
In Australia, 45% of business leaders believe that
new graduates do not have the necessary skills for
the workplace of today. Local government
continues to restrict the supply of overseas, skilled
labour and 457 visa workers resulting in a further
widening of this skills gap. How will you find new
talent when there are 50% less job seekers
entering the workforce?
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6. 5 reasons CEOs should look at talent management like an economist
4. Communicating with candidates is becoming increasing difficult
How do you communicate with your current and
future employees online?
96% of job seekers consider employer branding
when deciding to apply for a job.
60% believe most companies’ employment
branding is not good enough.
58% of candidates said they would take a 15% pay
cut to work for an organization with the same
values as their own.
Statistically companies who are perceived to be
better places to work make more money.
What could this mean for your business?
If you do not communicate your employee value
proposition up front and in the appropriate
channels, you are at risk of losing potential
applicants. These skilled candidates will potentially
bring their skills to other players in your market
instead. Due to their superior skills sets, they are
likely to earn more money for your competitors.
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Do you feel this site offers a quality sennse of
WHY people work here?

7. 5 reasons CEOs should look at talent management like an economist
5. Social Media and Mobile Traffic is growing
62% of job seekers are using social media to
research your employment brand. Job seekers are
also following up on social media to check if your
claims on job boards are true!
30% of LinkedIn’s traffic is now coming from
mobile devices and smart phones.
What could this mean for your business?
If your brand is not reflected on social media, and
optimized for mobile devices, you are at high risk
of missing out on the best candidates in the
market. You are limiting your ability to both reach
candidates and convince them that you are the
employer of choice.
What can you do next?
How can you request a Health Check?
In order to mitigate the impact that these trends
may have on your organization’s ability to attract
and retain the best staff, we recommend a
LinkedIn Recruitment Health Check.
Simply contact me on:
rmahon@linkedin.com or 02 8072 2653
LinkedIn has vast amounts of company data and
solutions to provide you with the best options to
start overcoming future challenges today.
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8. 5 reasons CEOs should look at talent management like an economist
APPENDIX

ANZ Research – Job Advertisement Series
–

OECD. Australians in jobs
–

http://www.odgersberndtson.com/fileadmin/uploads/global/Documents/Baby_Boomers.pdf
Salt, Bernard. KPMG: The Global Skills Convergence 2008
–

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features30Sep+2010
Odgers, Berndtson -After the Baby Boomers – A new generation of leadership
–

http://www.insyncsurveys.com.au/resources/research/2012/10/retention-review-2012/
ABS 2010 Labour Force Survey
–

http://marketing.bersin.com/2013-predictions.html
2012 Insync Surveys Retention Review
–

http://www.careerxroads.com/news/files/2013%20Mystery%20Job%20Seeker.pdf
Bersin & Deloitte Predictions for 2013
–

http://www.kinshipenterprise.com/_blog/Blog/post/ceo-leadership-in-the-age-of-social-media/#.UlTo6FDdcog
CareerXroads Mystery Job Seeker Report 2013
–

https://netimpact.org/docs/publications-docs/NetImpact_WhatWorkersWant2012.pdf
Kinship enterprise: CEO leadership in the age of social media
–

http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/consulting/human-capital/human-capital-trends/index.htm
Net Impact – Talent Report. What workers want in 2012
–

http://careerbuildercommunications.com/candidatebehavior/
Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2013
–

http://www.conference-board.org/subsites/index.cfm?id=14514
Careerbuilder communications
–

http://www.oecd.org/els/emp/Country%20Notes-AUSTRALIA.pdf
The Conference Board CEO Challenge 2013 Report
–

http://www.anz.com.au/corporate/research/australian-industry-economics/job-advertisement-series/
http://www.bernardsalt.com.au/advisory/reports
Employment Arrangements, retirement and superannuation Australia
–
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http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/B3FCB22F23E8931ECA257566000CCED6/$File/63610_apr%20
to%20jul%202007(Reissue).pdf