After failing to push back against the Jobs & Skills Summit’s immigration flood, Ross Gittins has finally come out of hiding, explaining why labour shortages are good for workers and the economy:
It’s all very well for the nation’s employers to go to Canberra complaining about the desperate labour shortage and demanding that the government lift its target for how many visas for permanent immigrants it will issue this year…
When economists hear businesspeople complaining they “can’t get the staff”, their first question is: have you tried offering a higher wage? What employers never say is “with the low wage and bad conditions I’m offering, I can’t get any takers”. Think fruit-picking.
