The Federal Government announced some exciting changes to incentive programs to attract and retain Apprentices, whilst supporting businesses with some of the associated costs. Broadly the 2022/2023 budget confirmed the following: Apprentices – Priority Occupations The Federal Government has not yet clarified what occupations will be included, but we can expect an update on this in the coming weeks/months. Wage …
Ben and Anita attended the Queensland Leaders’ April event. It was the usual hustle and bustle of great local businesses getting together to share ideas and help each other out through what looks like to be another crazy year. Trends in the market for this month appear to be: Candidate shortage! This has now moved to a whole new level …
From 1.00 am AEST Thursday 14 April 2022, the requirement to check in and to be fully vaccinated in a range of venues and events will end. For more detailed information and a list of venues please refer to the Queensland Government website. Vaccination and check-in requirements will continue for anyone visiting or working in vulnerable settings (hospitals, disability accommodation services …
What a time to be alive in 2022, seemingly overnight the job market has flipped in many sectors across the economy and the power balance between organisations and candidates has changed accordingly. This is why now more than ever developing and implementing a cost-effective, yet proven attraction and retention strategy is the best way to set your business up for …
An unfortunate consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic has been the need to save wage costs during either short or extended downturns in business, leading to many companies deciding to restructure to better set up for medium and long-term growth/success. Several important precedents have been set since January 2020 in the Fair Work Commission and below are some important details to …
April/May is a hard month to manage as a business owner, we have week after week of four days, limiting capacity. Throw in school holidays, parenting commitments and the lingering Covid challenges and we have a challenging month to negotiate! We have seen a spike in recruitment requests from clients in March and early April. It is good to know …
‘Forecast inflation increases will add wage pressure in an already candidate tight market’ After attending a QLD Leaders industry expert lunch recently, I couldn’t stop thinking about retention, retention, retention. An economist at the lunch predicted a 4.25% inflation figure (a big jump from almost nothing over the past 2 COVID years). Inflation has been low the last few COVID-19 …
Privilege is power when used to support and empower others! Thank you, Business Chicks Australia for having us at this year’s International Women’s Day #BreakTheBias event in Brisbane! Our team takeaway’s from the day was “Our opportunities don’t match our internal narratives” – Kemi Nekvapil. Message from Ben Watts, CEO of wattsnext Group Happy International Women’s Day to the magnificent current female members of the …
Masks have largely been used throughout the pandemic, with it being mandatory to wear a mask in most public settings. Finally, to demonstrate some progress toward returning to our pre-pandemic norms, mask restrictions have been lifted from the first week of March (with different dates and restrictions depending on your state). Note: VIC and QLD are easing the restrictions the …
Ben and Anita attended the March Queensland Leader event held at Brisbane City Hall. As usual, we spent the initial part of the night mentoring a couple of businesses as part of the Expert Mentoring Sessions. Being a Queensland Leaders industry expert means that each month we get to share our experience, small business knowledge and practical advice with awesome …
