BY MARLEY RAE
New research conducted by Business NSW shows three in four businesses in the Hunter are struggling to find skilled workers.
This year's biennial State of Skills report, which was based on survey responses by more than 500 businesses across NSW and the Hunter, found over 75 per cent of respondents reported skills shortages,
It's slightly higher than the state average of 73.6 per cent.
While the regional figure is below the post-COVID high of 2022 (89.1 per cent), it is markedly higher than shortages reported in 2019 (54.3 per cent) and 2017 (33.3 per cent).
The report also found half of the respondents expect the shortage to cost them customer and commercial opportunities, with some warning their businesses may not survive if conditions persist.
Business Hunter CEO Bob Hawes said the figures highlighted a concerning trend as skill shortages become entrenched with the local work force.
"These findings are consistent with what businesses across the Hunter have been telling us for some time," he said.
"The Hunter is not unusual and we've got a bit of a task to address a number of factors to try and address it."
However, the report also reveals competition for talent in the regional workforce are keen in the face of skills shortages, with 37.2 per cent of Hunter respondents noting the loss of suitable applicants to other employers during recruitment as a major challenge.
The shortages have prompted calls from Business NSW for a $200 million investment in apprenticeships, a comprehensive overhaul of regional, employer led skills compacts and income concessions for pensioners.
Mr Hawes believes workforce training, planning and skill development are essential amongst the Hunter's economic structural change.
"It's particularly critical in the Hunter if we're to get to these points of transformation in servicing new energy economy and growth in advanced manufacturing," he said.
"If we can get this right an get people who want to work back in the workforce, it's going help the region achieve it's transformation and goals it's setting itself.
"But if we don't, we've got a situation where people who are filling some of these skilled jobs are being tapped on the shoulder and not coming through the application process."
