Go green or pay the price! - Gen Y's take on the carbon tax.

The carbon tax has been a hot topic for quite awhile and one of our employees, Daniella Serret wrote an article about it as part of a university thesis. She's tweaked it for a Conduit audience and considering that Gen Y will be impacted by the carbon tax for the majority of their financial gaining years, it is intersting to see their opinion on the matter.

Go green or pay the price

by Daniella Serret

The carbon tax: changing the world for a more sustainable future. Or at least, that’s what we’re meant to believe.

Surprisingly, a lot of Australians aren’t completely clear on what the carbon tax is exactly and how it directly impacts their lives. So, in basic terms, here’s Carbon Tax 101:

• The top 500 highest carbon-producing companies in Australia will be taxed for every tonne of carbon they produce. As a result, the companies will raise the prices of their products to offset this tax.

• That tax money will be received by the Government who, in turn, will make concessions for (certain) taxpayers to compensate for the added tax.

The whole purpose for this carbon tax is to force businesses to lower their carbon emissions, thereby going ‘greener’. The expectation is that businesses will comply and lower their emissions. However, there are other options available to them. They can layoff employees to reduce payroll costs or move their business offshore to non-carbon tax countries which will spell disaster for the Australian employment industry and economy.

Additionally, since the majority of people aren’t going to see any market signal changes in their day-to-day lifestyle, they will not change their behaviour. This leads them to continue to consume the same products and services that are in turn producing the carbon dioxide pollution. Whilst the government intends to compensate certain households (namely lower income, retired and pensioner households), those who aren’t compensated will bear the responsibility of making change amongst the populace. They will cut back on non-essential items and change their lifestyle choices however, this will in turn impact the economy due to their lack of product consumption.

Essentially, no matter what happens someone loses. For this reason, plenty of people resent the implementation of the carbon tax. But, looking at it from an environmental point of view, it has its advantages.

The carbon tax debate has put environmental issues into the spotlight, which is a positive thing considering it has made people aware of the small things that they can adapt into their lifestyle. And it’s common knowledge that if the world continues to harm the environment through man-made means, we’re looking at a very unsustainable future. Think Steven Spielberg’s Terra Nova pre-time travel.

If Australia takes no action by 2020 our carbon pollution could be 20 per cent higher than in 2000, not 5 to 25 per cent lower as the Australian Government intends. But this change has been estimated to result in a reduction of 0.0007 degrees, a change so small that it cannot be measured in the environment.

If we were to convert carbon pollution to a kilometer in length, the carbon dioxide that global human activity puts out equates to 12 millimeters in length. Australia’s contribution to this is a mere 0.18 of a millimeter.

Basically, we are going through all this upheaval to funnel more money to our Government (of which only a small portion is being returned to the populace) all to change 0.18 of a millimeter. In the grand scheme of things, if the world is going into environmental meltdown, Australia will be going too despite our valiant saving of 0.18 of a millimeter of the environment.

Conduit is dedicated to being an environmentally friendly office and we encourage you all out there to do the same. Google “Environmentally friendly lifestyle choices” to help aid the cause. However, there are better causes to lend our attention to which we can change/save/protect rather than marginally impact.

For example, instead of bulldozing acres of the rainforest, which aids carbon dioxide pollution, we should be preserving them as that has a far higher impact on carbon pollution than our carbon tax system.

Additionally, in working against deforestation, we are saving the lives of countless species of animals and flora. Check out http://www.greenthefilm.com/ - to see just how much deforestation impacts our lives and the environment then compare it to our 0.18 of a millimetre.

At the end of the day, being environmentally conscious is a necessity in today’s society but let’s be mindful of the best way to protect the environment instead of our Government.

Article written by Daniella Serret

The luck of the Irish

Since the fall of the Celtic Tiger, Australia has had a large influx of Irish workers in the industry, particularly in the construction, property and engineering sectors.

These foreign workers have proven to be quite popular in the local market. Yes, they may be coming to Australia out of employment necessity but due to their skills and experience along with our current needs, Australian employers are eagerly snapping them up.

The construction industry in Ireland is stuck in a depression that sees only 20% output a year so it’s understandable that Irish workers are seeking work elsewhere.

On the cusp of a 25 year expansion, it’s estimated that Western Australia will need 150,000 extra workers by 2017. This need will be readily met by overseas skilled workers because their skills set is of such a high standard.

Given the fact that Australia has such a small population compared to its land mass, and the rapid growth of its cities and booming mining industry, there is a need to fill positions with people who have proven experience (which will inevitably come from overseas). This is a quicker way to fill the positions rather than waiting for graduates to get 5 years of experience under their belts before they can take the next step in their chosen profession.

This isn’t to say that Australian workers are being dealt the short end of the stick but, in the current situation, overseas workers have the qualifications and skills to fill demand automatically. Australia is breeding a generation of workers to match their international counterparts but the majority are either at university or obtaining experience so perhaps local employment will escalate in the next decade but for now, there is an automatic solution in overseas workers. Of course, on some occasions this will mean that Australian workers may lose out on jobs, but this again will only seek to drive up the level of expertise and the quality of candidates that Australia will produce in response to this influx of overseas workers.

However, it isn’t all rainbows and roses for our international friends. Visa issues and cultural transitions add a layer of difficulty but the largest added stress is the requirement (for some professions) that workers have a certain amount of local experience.

For example, the UK/Irish’s planning system differs greatly from the Australian system. For those in the planning and architect industry, there is a need to familiarize themselves with our system by gaining local experience whether through entry level jobs or work experience/intern initiatives.

Despite these hurdles, Irish workers are coming in steadily. With their reputation of being good workers and the ease with which they enter the Australian market and culture, the Irish are here to stay. Considering Irish productivity rates are among the highest in the OECD and in Europe for many years, fingers crossed the luck of the Irish continues to rub off on Australia.

RESEARCHED AND EDITED BY DANIELLA SERRET AND RAY AULD.

SOURCES:

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Australia-wants-Irelands-unemployed-125684948.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/07/06/skills-shortage-has-australia-tapping-u-k-irish-workers/

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Thousands-of-Irish-workers-wanted-in-Australia-says-Aussie-minister-130933433.html

"Experience" and "skills" are the new magic words

The Australian Mining website recently published an article on mining employment opportunities that received a lot of controversial feedback. The article discussed the ‘desperate’ need for workers in Western Australia Goldfields region, stating that job vacancies were increasing steadily. However, the article’s plea for workers was contradicted by the comments below the article that questioned the ‘desperation’ of the situation in the fact that it seemed more difficult than ever to obtain a job in the mining sector.

The claims ranged from being overly-skilled to being overlooked in favour of international workers, with experience being the key component. In fact, being qualified but lacking in experience was the dominant complaint.

Because of this seemingly never-ending contradiction of needing experience to get a job but needing a job to get experience, one irate blogger wrote “What these employers must know is that there is no college or uni where experience is taught as a subject. They should just recruit qualified people and give them the experience.”

But what of the rare breed of workers who have the qualifications and the experience? Yes, they are few and far between but their edge in the employment market means that they are being actively pursued, even to the point of employing international workers over local ones. BHP Billiton's chief executive, Marius Kloppers, stated that there was a "massive talent gap" in the mining sector. This extreme skills shortage has resulted in mining groups satisfying their need for workers by employing fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers.

The popularity of the use of FIFO workers has come under fire by the Australian Workers Union, who criticize it as a short-term solution. There is also a lot of talk about how employing FIFO workers are damaging to rural communities but on the other hand, why should qualified overseas or interstate workers be penalised in this process?

Fortescue Metal’s group manager Deidre Willmott justified the use of FIFO workers by stating that it was nearly three times cheaper to employ a FIFO miner compared with a permanent resident because of the housing costs and allowances.

Ron Mosby (Goldfields-Esperance Workforce Development Alliance president) indicated that the 61 projects currently underway, combined with a further 28 projects starting this year, meant there would be about 10,000 job vacancies in 2012.

However, officials at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal stated that even entry level jobs were attracting more than 400 applicants so competition is fierce.

Whilst it’s understandable that local candidates want to get a look in, it’s basic business acumen to hire the candidates that fit your criteria to the letter. This is supply and demand at its best.

Perhaps the solution lies in each party re-evaluating their standards. Companies need to invest more in training programs and candidates should seek work experience and internships to add to their academic credentials.

RESEARCHED AND EDITED BY: DANIELLA SERRET

SOURCES:

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2109964119

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2109964119

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2109964119

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2109964119

http://theaustralian.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

FIFO - Is it all it’s cranked up to be??

Australia is a massive country, and due to our size and mostly baron landscape, employees in Australia are sometimes required to travel far and wide to seek suitable employment.

Everyone would have now heard of the phrase, Fly In, Fly Out (FIFO), a process where workers commute from homes and cities to remote locations for employment. FIFO is more commonly found in the employment sectors of construction, engineering, mining, natural resources and energy fields and locations can reach as far away as remote West Australia & Queensland to locations around the world.

FIFO rosters vary, although a common rotation for these workers is to work for 2-3 weeks continuously, and then have 1-2 weeks off back at home. People would often only undertake FIFO for one of two reasons. The first being if they need a change and want to get away from their own home for a long period of time, or secondly, and the more common choice is to chase the big dollars. FIFO employees are often rewarded with above normal salary packages to compensate for the inconvenience of travel and living away from home.

However, is FIFO all it is cranked up to be?

I have met quite a few FIFO employees during my recruitment career, both candidates and clients who undertake the rigorous journey for a short or sustained period of time.

I have listed some of the current pros and cons I often hear from these people:

Pros of FIFO employment:

• Excellent salary package
• Roster breaks of 1-2 weeks off can be worth it
• Amazing ability to save a lot of money due to minimal opportunity to spend
• Mateship with fellow workers
• Accommodation provided or accommodation allowance (not always applicable)

Cons of FIFO employment:

• Long stretches away from home, family & friends
• Lack of freedom on site and strict work policies e.g. non alcohol policy
• Unfavourable working conditions
• Long hours worked
• Associated stress of travel, remoteness and working conditions
• Hard to exercise or maintain a normal healthy routine
• Basic accommodation e.g. dongas, or expensive rental properties near sites

So whilst particular parts of construction, engineering and mining industries are booming in regional locations, potential FIFO employees must weigh up the possibility of large pay packets with long periods of travel and compare this to the stress of working in remote areas, sometimes in unfavourable conditions whilst working away from their friends and family.

Local roles might not pay as much as a FIFO role; however local employees will have the security of working and living in a familiar and safe environment. One thing to consider is that if you are a very family orientated person, then is the pay rise going to be worth the time away from family?

It is worth noting however, that the Mining Boom is expected to last for the best part of another decade, but it will not last forever. Candidates considering FIFO must assess the risks of jeopardizing long term career aspiration locally against short term financial gains that FIFO opportunities can provide.

Retaining good staff during a downturn?

Australia is facing the biggest slump in construction in over two years across various residential, commercial building and engineering sectors.

Construction workers are used to varying shifts in demand and supply of labour, it is a part of the industry they grow accustomed too very quickly and something that almost ‘comes with the territory’. However, really good staff are always hard to find and it is vital to keep your best workers satisfied and loyal to your company for upcoming projects.

Here are a few tips to consider when you want to retain staff during a downturn in work.

•Recognition
Good workers want to be recognised for their hard work and loyalty. A construction company may not always be able to afford financial rewards for its best staff, however, it may be a good idea to keep good workers happy with a simple recognition of a job well done. It lets your best workers know that their hard work has not gone unnoticed and they feel like a valued team member.

•Appropriate Rewards for Work
Construction Managers would be very surprised to learn that most of their good staff will not leave just for a better wage, instead a fair wage which is equal to their work load. If your Senior Estimator and Project Manager are putting in 70 hour weeks, then you might want to look at other ways to compensate them and keep them happy. You could offer stock options, incentive bonuses, flexible working times, increased holidays or tickets to sporting / entertainment events to name a few. Understanding what is a fair financial reward for work completed will allow your managers to better connect with staff, and can save you losing your next top employee.

•Promote from within
Promotions do not always mean offering a higher salary and changing a job title. Generation X workers in particular are now constantly seeking to move into management type positions; therefore if they have proved their expertise and it is justified, do not hesitate to act and offer a promotion. A timely promotion may stop you losing your next up and coming Project Manager to your rivals.

•Training and development
This is an area almost all companies overlook during a downturn. Training and development is a high level request from staff looking for a new job. More importantly, if you say you can offer it, then follow through with your promises. Too often employees are promised training and development at the interview stage and then it is never mentioned again. Whilst it may have slipped your mind, you can bet that your employees will not have forgotten.

•Send out employee satisfaction reviews
This is a primary H.R function which is often overlooked, and the information you gather may be the important information needed to stop your good employees leaving, and more importantly, taking other good workers with them.

•Act on employee suggestions
There is no point setting up a satisfaction review if you are not going to act on it. Often employees just want to be heard and it may be a simple request such as a flexible start time. If good employees continually ask for simple things and they receive no response, they will feel as if they work for a company who just won’t listen, and frustration builds.

The key to keeping good workers is to find a balance from all the points above and keep up honest and open communication. Listen to your employees, act accordingly to questions and suggestions, and try to learn why good people are leaving? Exit interviews are a great way to start!

Written by Patrick Page, Marketing Coordinator and Engineering Consultant for Conduit Recruitment.

The Lost Art of Listening.

The next time you are in a meeting have a notice of how many times someone cuts across the talk of someone else. See how many times someone actually gets to finish what they were saying before someone else starts talking. You may have already noticed that some meetings are just a fight to be heard. You may also notice how some comments are not really relevant to the previous comments and are rather just whatever that person wanted to say and was waiting to get a turn! Its as if we have lost the capability to listen to each other and then make a considered reply based on what had been said. Meetings like this can fail to achieve the result that was intended which was propbably to resolve an issue or generate some ideas. Probably all that happens is that some people get to say how much they know about a certain topic and thus massage their self worth for a bit.

So the biggest crime here is that we don’t listen. By this I mean actually stop talking and stop thinking about what we want to say next and actually really concentrate on what the other person is saying. It takes self control but the benefits are huge. Here are a few benefits of listening:

1. In a calm environment where people feel they are being listened to - ideas are generated. We are little creators waiting to happen and we need room.

2. By listening more you hear more points of view and can therefore make better judgement decisions

3. You will be able to pick up on feelings, intent and body language which can be lost if you are just trying to push your point of view.

4. You will gain respect from the people you are listening to – people like to feel appreciated and be recognised and by listening intently you are projecting respect for them and what they are saying. Basically you will be liked more!

5. People will open up more and feel free to express themselves – in a creative environment this is exactly what you are looking for.

6. Misunderstandings are avoided and reduced as clear communication channels are created

7. Listening creates a feeling of goodwill in professional relationships. Improve your relationships by listening non-judgmentally to the concerns and problems of others. The more you listen without judgment, the more freedom speakers have to find their own solutions to problems.

8. Meetings will have a calmer vibe about them, people will relax and open up and more will be achieved.

9. You will feel more relaxed and therefore live longer !! – big statement I know but its probably true.

10. A collaborative environment conducive to positive thinking is produced.

Unfortunately in a world that promotes an environment where its ‘all about me’ the desire to listen can be stifled at times. But expressing our wants, feelings, thoughts and opinions clearly and effectively is only half of the communication process needed for interpersonal effectiveness. The other half is listening and understanding what others communicate to us. The benefits are clear.

As Larry Nadig says :- "We were given two ears but only one mouth, because listening is twice as hard as talking."

Happy listening.

By Adam Walker – Director at Conduit Recruitment (www.conduitgroup.com.au)

2009 construction forecast: can it weather the economic downturn?

It’s all over the news that business and consumer confidence is low and that Australia and other Western economies are heading for tough times. Money is tight, many business sales are falling and company directors are wondering whether their business will survive the downturn.

The spectre of job losses is looming across the general economy as the financial jitters spread out across numerous industries including the Quantity Surveying and Construction sectors.

Construction has been following a steady path during the past decade with continual single digit growth in output. The rises have not been as spectacular as other sectors, but the flipside is that it is predicted that the fallout from the current economic troubles will be nowhere near as severe. However, it is clear that this sector like many others is not immune from the crunch.

The private building sectors have been the hardest hit with many banks developing cold feet and becoming more cautious in funding new projects. Private infrastructure spending is still rising, but apart from that, things are gloomy, which shows how important public spending is.

Alastair McMichael, a Director of Rider Levett Bucknall agrees that the private infrastructure sector has been impacted significantly with “numerous projects put on hold or cancelled due to the shockwaves that are travelling through the Quantity Surveying and Commercial Construction sectors.”

McMichael’s predicts that their workload in the New Year could potentially be “substantially reduced and we will be looking into new opportunities as internal resources become more available.”

Rachel Callaway, National Research Manager of Davis Langdon explains despite the doom and gloom, on a “global level we have seen a lot of former expats returning to Australia as they are no longer required in international jobs. Therefore we are seeing a higher calibre of candidates in our industry.”

“This time last year everyone was screaming skills shortage, now the tables have turned dramatically. Economically, it will take awhile for the situation to turn however the government’s quick act to inject money into the infrastructure sector will help.”

It is evident that the outlook for the construction industry is somewhat cloudy with revenue expected to increase by only 4% in 2009-10 and just 2% in 2010-11. Although, despite this somewhat disappointing prediction, there is still hope with it forecasted that there will be nearly 90,000 construction workers needed every year between now and 2012.

A Director of a National Infrastructure Organisation says “despite the obvious slow down, we won’t be changing our area of focus too much during 2009. If we were purely a building company we would notice a more substantial slow down but because we are well diversified we will have enough to keep us going.”

“The current economic climate will see project funding becoming much harder to secure and will probably never revert to that of the past few years. You will need to have a fundamentally secured project to receive funding, including excellent fundamentals, and larger equity invested with less debt. 2009 will start off very flat and probably wont get up and running until the first half of 2010 where more stimuli will come back into the economy.”

A Project Manager of a National Construction Company agrees that “You currently have to look at projects in cycles as a job we start now won't be finished for nearly two years and the economic climate might be different by then. Everyone knows there is a shortage of housing as the demand is there, the problem is affordability and finance.”

“We are still expanding as a company because the work is still coming through. If residential wobbles a bit then we are looking at other areas such as hotel construction, which is booming. All our skills are transferable between the two, so you just have to adapt when things get a little tighter.”

Director of Conduit Recruitment Adam Walker says that recruitment in the construction sector has also been hit by the downturn. “We have found that most of our clients are either laying people off or have established a recruitment freeze.”

“As far as recruitment in construction is concerned, what we are finding is that there are a lack of vacant positions but also a lack of candidates as the quality candidates have not been let go. Smart companies are using this time to attract candidates who may not have been available in busier times.”

Conduit Recruitment Construction Consultant Greg Ford agrees that “there is an enormous amount of uncertainty in the sector. We are finding that many of our clients have had projects cease or be put on hold, but for some construction companies it is a question of adapting and moving into other areas where work is still ongoing.”

“The beginning of 2009 has seen many of our clients madly tendering with predictions that it will be quiet for most of 2009. We have found that many of our clients have switched their focus from placing permanent roles to contract.”

As for the overall prediction of what 2009 will bring, the building sector will suffer as long as private development has all but stopped. Building will most probably stagnate, infrastructure remuneration might continue to move upwards but it won’t increase at the rate it has in the past.

Alastair McMichael says that during 2009 they will be “sitting tight and keeping our existing team together.”

Adam Walker agrees that there is a lot of “wait and see for clients in the construction and infrastructure sector, although the search for hard to find specialist skilled workers such as client estimators has not ceased.”

“In terms of the skills shortage, there will always be a skills shortage in the construction and quantity surveying space. Although there are presently fewer jobs available because of the climate, when things start to pick up the shortage will not have disappeared.”

The economic downturn has caused a construction slump as these leading construction professionals have revealed, and although there is a vast array of prediction and opinion, the general consensus seems to be that we will have ‘to wait and see’.