Global labour trend 'to hurt Australia'http://news.www30.ninemsn.com.au/Saturday Sep 1 15:53 AEST
Australia could be the big loser in a trend towards globalisation of labour, a leading cultural trends commentator says.
Cities world-wide would compete for skilled and talented labour with a shortage looming, Bernard Salt said at the Asia Pacific Cities Summit in Brisbane.
Mr Salt, a partner in accounting firm KPMG, said countries such as China, which collapsed its birthrate through the one child policy, were heading for a shortage of labour within a decade.
"We're moving into an era of the globalisation of the skilled labour market," Mr Salt said.
"We've already had the globalisation of the finance market, information technology and now in the 21st century skilled labour and talent."
Mr Salt said generation Y - those born from 1976-1991 - would be particularly targeted by overseas companies.
"We are moving into an international war for talent - hand to hand combat on a city by city basis to recruit, retain and attract the best talent at a generation Y level," he said.
Mr Salt said a greater ageing population in many developed countries and a smaller workforce base meant countries would work hard to lure quality blue and white collar labour.
He said Australian governments and business would have to work together to retain their young workforce.
"It's not just Asia, but in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands - even the UK who will (face a shortage)," he said.
"Those developed economies are going to go on recruiting drives and turn up in your cities sit outside your universities and attract the best, brightest talent out of your backyard and lure them."
Mr Salt said the baby boomer parents of generation Y may have travelled overseas but tended to always settle in Australia.
"It never occurred to (baby boomers) that Australia was not the very best place on earth to invest their talent and energy," he said.
"I'm not so sure generation Y see Australia in the same light.
"They see it as not quite the centre of things like London, New York, Dubai - which is a dangerous situation for the second tier less developed global economies like Australia.
"The aspirational, talented generation Y will naturally flow towards these centres."
