A leading employment expert has warned Australians to prepare for mass layoffs at their companies as bosses look to drastically change their employment structure.
Labor lawyer Jonathan Mamaril says the Great Resignation is about to give way to the Great Looting.
Mamaril predicts that by the end of the year, wages will fall and cuts and layoffs will increase.
He says companies are moving to correct a culture of overpaying staff, which was a result of Covid, as unemployment rates were at an all-time low in 2022 and companies had to offer lucrative salary packages to secure staff.
NB’s Director of Employment Law says medium and large companies are restructuring their workforce while looking for ways to cut costs.
Australians are warned that the job market is changing and power is shifting to bosses as companies look for ways to cut costs and lower employee wages (file image)
Labor lawyer Jonathan Mamaril (pictured) says the Great Resignation is about to give way to the Great Looting, predicting that by the end of the year wages will fall and cuts and layoffs will increase.
“The first big wave of the salary correction cycle is likely to come just before Christmas and last until the first quarter of 2024,” Mamaril said. the courier mail.
‘Overpaid employees will be the first to be cut. In many cases, desperate companies were forced to pay 30 per cent above industry averages and labor levels to secure staff.’
The Great Quit was predicted to hit Australia in late 2022 and would see up to 2 million workers quit their jobs within a six to 12 month period due to burnout, fatigue and dissatisfaction within their workplaces.
Allianz Australia released data showing job satisfaction has plummeted with 42 per cent of workers experiencing fatigue or burnout and 34 per cent struggling to cope with increased workload.
Mamaril said the tables have since been turned around and bosses are now looking to adjust their workforce and reduce the number of employees.
One company that has already taken the plunge is Westpac, which recently cut more than 750 jobs in just seven weeks.
Real estate giant Lendlease also recently announced that it would cut 10 percent of its global workforce as the real estate giant works to implement a five-year turnaround plan, which will result in some 740 people being laid off.
The latest Reserve Bank meeting minutes hinted that its aggressive rate hikes may drive unemployment even higher than anticipated, predicting that 138,000 people could lose their jobs within 18 months.
May’s unemployment rate of 3.6 percent is at a nearly 48-year low, but the RBA projects it will hit 4.5 percent by the end of 2024.
That would see 137,846 people out of work as the ranks of the jobless swell to 653,746, up from 515,900 today.
Midsize and large companies are restructuring their workforce as they look for ways to cut costs as they move to correct a culture of overpaying staff (file image)
In a labor force of 14.5 million people, that represents a 26.7 percent increase in the number of people out of work.
“Higher interest rates could also be expected to encourage households to save more, which would affect consumption,” the RBA said.
“If that were to happen, the demand for labor would slow and the unemployment rate would likely rise beyond the rate required to ensure inflation returns to target within a reasonable amount of time.”
Mr. Mamaril says that organizations have recognized that they can outsource non-revenue departments such as administration, human resources and marketing.
“Businesses are still happy to pay top dollar for highly-skilled and experienced staff who deliver results, however, with layoffs and restructuring on the horizon, overpaid staff are likely to be on the chopping block,” he said.
“The days of overpaid staff of last year, where employees dictated conditions and salary expectations are over.”
The labor lawyer says that the exodus has begun and that wage and condition corrections have already begun.
It comes as many workers across the country have been told to return to the office or risk losing their job.
Labor lawyer says the exodus has begun and wage and condition corrections have already started with the RBA projecting the unemployment rate to hit 4.5 per cent by the end of 2024 (file image)
Business SA chief executive Andrew Kay said the advertiser that local workers are in danger of losing their jobs to cheaper foreign labor.
“It has been suggested that the continued growth of the WFH will lead some employers to choose to outsource certain services to the best offer, usually abroad, rather than employ workers they never see in the office anyway,” said Mr Kay.
“If we assume that AI and digitization are going to reshape the workforce in the coming years, we need to seriously consider the impact of any policy decision that makes workplace support the exception rather than the rule.”
UniSA associate professor Dr. Ruchi Sinha said working from home has prompted employers to look abroad to cut costs.
“What’s happening right now in CBDs is offices are becoming a cost liability,” Dr. Sinha said.
“Companies look at the assets and liabilities they have on their books and realize they don’t need offices.
‘If a company starts looking at costs, it will look at wage costs.
“What makes offshoring attractive is the fact that there is now evidence that a great deal of work can be done remotely, virtually, and with a distributed workforce.”
