Watch And Wait: Australian Businesses (And Their Employees) Continue to Ride Out Uncertainty

In this opinion piece, Damion Brown, managing director, Australia & New Zealand, Jellyfish discusses how Australia’s climate has developed during an unprecedented time.
Like many countries, Australia had the finish line in its sights. The pandemic recovery was on, with workers returning to their offices, masks worn only for public transport and travel plans gearing back up.
In an ironic twist, the most difficult 18 months imaginable had slightly boosted the country’s economy, a jump mostly attributed to retailers moving successfully online, including traditional brick and mortars who may never have embraced a virtual business model prior to 2020.
At the same time, the pandemic lockdown accelerated federally sponsored digital transformation initiatives that had begun two years prior with the goal of making Australia one of the top three digital governments in the world by 2025.
It turns out the finish line was a mirage.
While Australians were ready to reclaim normal and forge ahead through the end of 2021 and into 2022, Covid had other plans. The latest Delta virus variant has re-closed our borders, brought restrictions and curfews back and frozen a workforce seized by uncertainty.
Given a dubious landscape, businesses and employees alike seem to be taking a wait and see approach, sticking with what works for now on both sides of the table. Companies are keen on retaining staff rather than devoting time and resources to on-boarding new talent; a process made more costly and time-consuming in a remote environment.
In addition, creating the cultural connection needed to successfully onboard employees has proven challenging throughout the pandemic.
Retain, retrain.
Given the myriad of challenges, many businesses are choosing to upskill their present tech staff rather than add skill via new employees. To that end, training budgets remain healthy within the corporate landscape.
Particularly at a time when traditional in-person workshops and seminars aren’t attractive to hesitant professionals, or they’re canceled altogether, being able to host a one-on-one or advanced session allows a business to train existing staff on how to use different platforms or how to interpret their company’s digital properties and assets.
Another way businesses are able to retain workers while growing their internal capabilities is through in-housing. As digital transformation reaches its adolescence, companies that may have relied on outside agencies to manage business imperatives like data collection and analysis or media assets allocation are moving those teams in-house, upskilling existing staff to take the reigns.
Doing so puts more control back in the hands of the business, while offering a cost savings and enriching staff expertise.
Remain, refrain.
Workers, meanwhile, seem to be in alignment with Australian employers’ stance on upskilling rather than hiring anew. While one report estimated that upwards of 40 per cent of workers globally were considering leaving their jobs this year, Australia is experiencing just the opposite.
Here, there are so few job seekers on the market that even Seek, the nation’s largest job-search website, has added a disclaimer for employers who post openings for available positions. It reads: Candidate cautiousness and high demand is currently resulting in fewer applications for some jobs.
Why are so many employees refraining from seeking new opportunities? The uncertainty of the pandemic is surely a factor. Another variable, one which affects both workers and employers, is the opportunity cost of border closings.
Prior to 2020, Australia enjoyed a large migrant population, many of whom were post-graduates and established professionals looking to raise families and further their careers in metropolitan areas like Sydney and Melbourne. In 2019 alone, an estimated 210,700 migrants came to the country; the 2020 number represented a mere fraction of that amount.
Further hindering the influx of talent is a visa sponsorship process that has become muddled and slow, impacting turnaround time for job candidates coming from outside Australia. Particularly impacted are those from the U.K.
Two-way talent exchange between Australia and the U.K. has always been a known quantity, with mid-senior level professionals moving freely between the two countries for months- or years-long stretches covered by work visas. With the sponsorship process now holding candidates up indefinitely, Australian companies are finding they can’t afford the wait time, and are opting instead to promote or train from within.
In essence, a highly enthusiastic, knowledgeable, employable talent stream orbiting the two countries has disappeared, with limited sight on when it will fully return.
No doubt Australians are ready to work globally again as much as those overseas are ready to come back to Australia. When the borders finally open for good there will be an interesting migration pattern as people go, in some cases literally, anywhere they can.
But within our current parameters, while there may be workers who are looking for a change or companies that are eyeing a talent refresh for their future plans, we remain on hold for the time being. Here’s hoping the next finish line we see is the real one.
Latest News

Sex, Sins & Single Source Storytelling
In this guest post, Jen Dobbie (main image), creative director at Hotwire Australia, says ultimately advertising is merely storytelling and offers her expert tips to put more zing in your brand’s tale… The Wicked Bible is a deliciously named, and tempting title for a storied series of mistakes published in 1631. Its pages house the […]

University Of South Australia And KWP! Join Forces To Launch Unstoppable, A New National Brand Campaign
The University of South Australia promptly remembered where they were based and scurried back into a barrel in Fremantle.

William Grant & Sons Australia Announces Partnership With De Kuyper, Two New Roles On Offer
In addition to increasing the nice European booze available in Aus, the acquisition includes some truly strange jobs.

Instagram May Not Be Working Properly For All Users Today
Reports today that Instagram has chucked a bit of a tech wobbly. You don't see print doing that now, do you?

AFR’s Latest Rich List Proves Grim For Media Moguls As Tech & Miners Dominate
Gina Reinhart again tops rich list after inheriting all that cash from Dad. Still proving a rather sour woman to boot.

Triple J To Celebrate Reconciliation Week With Indigenous Takeover
In bad news for lovers of John Farnham's seminal Whispering Jack, triple j reveals plans for Indigenous music takeover.

ABC Journo Goes Viral After A Scarf Is Mistaken For A Dildo During Live Cross
Think it's a quiet day on the B&T news desk today? Confirm it with this nonsensical scarf-not-dildo story here.

The Oz Publishes List Of 100 Game Changers In The Arts
The OZ reveals our hottest art creatives. Yet, the visceral work of Ken Done & the wobble board again cruelly neglected.

Blooms The Chemist Comes Up With Creative New Media Portal To Handle Its Physical And Digital Campaigns
Blooms The Chemist is digitising how it manages owned media, rolling out a dedicated supplier media portal capable of managing in-store and online campaigns across its 110+ pharmacies. The Australian pharmacy sector has seen significant growth, accelerated by the COVID-19 response. At the peak of the country’s pandemic, retail pharmacy sales surpassed $800 million, up […]

Thursday TV Wrap: The Chase & MasterChef Pull Solid Numbers, As Seven Nabs The Night
You'd think B&T's TV reporter never left the house given this thorough precis. Fuelled on Uber Eats & cheap sav blanc.

After Hanging Up Her Yellow Skivvy Former Wiggle Emma Watkins Is Heading To The ABC
Former Wiggle Emma Watkins reveals move to the public broadcaster. Says she's also indifferent to fruit salad.

Agnes Media Appointed By Education Fintech Brand ZeeFi
Independent media agency Agnes Media has been appointed by ZeeFi, Australia’s only ‘buy now pay later’ finance solution designed specifically for the education sector.

Passerby Waves Hand Gun At TV Reporter Doing Live Cross On American Gun Violence!
What is it with Americans? They can put a man on the Moon but decent beer, coffee & gun control is utterly beyond them.

DDB’s Macca’s ‘Australiano’ Coffee Gets Roasted For Appropriating Indigenous Ingredients
US fast food chain in strife for Australian-themed coffee misappropriating Indigenous ingredients. If that makes sense?

Under Armour Returns As Footwear And Apparel Partner For City2Surf
The B&T office is once again enrolled for City2Surf 2022, with grand plans to even attempt it sober this year.

Ellen DeGeneres Closes Out Her Show By Revealing She Couldn’t Say The Word Gay
It's the final curtain for Ellen's chat show. Despite B&T thinking it ended sometime ago after she insulted the staff.

Case Study: How MediaCom’s WHISKAS’ #CatsInBoxes Campaign Saw A 70% Uplift In Sales & Score A Number Of Awards
This WHISKAS case study isn't solely for cat lovers. However, cat haters are well advised to use discretion.

Netflix And Grill’d Team Up For National Burger Day With Stranger Things Inspired Burger
Grill'd are experts in using the word "health" in its marketing, therefore enabling it to charge four times the price.

Dan Astey To Join Triple M Breakfast In Brisbane
Dan Astey joins Triple M Brisbane's brekkie crew. Which, admittedly, isn't as good as Rick Astley joining said crew.

IDC And Data.ai Study Shows Mobile Vs. Console Gamer Gap Is Getting Even Bigger
data.ai (formerly App Annie), the first unified data ai company, today in partnership with IDC, released the Gaming Spotlight 2022 report. Powered by Game IQ, the report reveals that mobile gaming represents 61 percent of the overall gaming market which is set to hit $222 billion in 2022. The report reveals that mobile gaming is […]

Nielsen Teams Up With TikTok To Unleash Greater Potential On Worldwide Marketing Insights
TikTok joins CRM, the boozy long lunch & pretending to have read Dr Byron Sharp's books in every marketer's toolkit.

Emplifi First Quarter Report Shows Investments On Ads Are Up But User Engagement Is Flatlining
Emplifi, the leading unified customer experience (CX) platform, today revealed the findings of its Q1 2022 analysis of social media spend across thousands of brands worldwide including those in Asia Pacific (APAC). While overall social media ad spend decreased in the first quarter following an impressive holiday showing, it remains significantly higher than a year […]

WPP’s Wavemaker Snares Audible’s $700 Million Media In Global Win
Wavemaker staff start Friday pilgrimage to North Sydney's Rag & Famish early after doing not much to secure latest win.

Bohemia Australia Nabs Paul Hutchison From Wavemaker UK For CEO Role
Bohemia looks to the UK for its latest CEO. Yet, no plans to instal a picture of Her Majesty in office reception.

Ogilvy Unveils NSW Government’s Latest COVID PSA “Little Things”
New government PSA urges us all not to be complacent about COVID. You should also eat your vegetables & wear a condom.

Reconciliation Australia Launches National Reconciliation Week Campaign Via Carbon Creative
Reconciliation Australia and Carbon Creative will launch National Reconciliation Week 2022 tomorrow, Friday, 27 May (running through to 3 June) with the theme ‘Be brave. Make change.’ The theme and campaign, developed by social change creative agency Carbon Creative in collaboration with emerging Torres Strait Visual Artist Tori-Jay Mordey, challenges all Australians—individuals, families, communities, organisations, […]

Pearman Media Appoints Tara Lamond As Group Business Director
Tara Lamond clearly startled by large swarm of marauding killer bees outside window during office photography session.

Beyond the Rainbow: How Brands Can Better Connect with LGBTQIA+ Consumers All Year Round
It's tips on how brands can connect with the LGBTQIA+ community. Flannelette & marble wash denim still not resonating.

Wide World Of Sports Radio Will Air Nationally From November
Who needs the visual appeal of watching sports like NRL and AFL when you can listen to them on National radio?

Samsung Launches New Refrigerator Campaign In South Korea, And It’s Wild
Apparently selling fridges wasn't 'cool' enough for Samsung, so now they've got a meme-fueled campaign in South Korea.

Anne Hathaway & Zendaya’s Bulgari Ad Feels More Like A Movie Trailer In The Best Way
Lux brand Bulgari enlists two Hollywood A-listers for latest campaign. Like, who were you expecting? Sharon Strzelecki?

Templafy Lands David Nemes As APAC Regional Director
LinkedIn and Buzzfeed will certainly be lost without Nemes, who is making the leap into the world of online documents.

IAS Signal Will Now Include Total Visibility Dashboard In Latest Update
The news brought so much excitement to the B&T team that we all lifted our heads off our desks and cheered for a minute.

Today Is National Sorry Day
B&T would like to take time out from the usual programming to acknowledge National Sorry Day today.

Wednesday TV Wrap: Charlie Pickering’s The Weekly Delivers, As Nine Snags The Night
If there's one group sad about ScoMo's defeat it has to be ABC comics decrying the lack of material.

‘The Sims 4’ Now Lets You Use Your Own Pronouns For Your Characters
The latest entry in EA and Maxis’ life simulation series, The Sims 4, has released a new update which allows players to customise their character’s pronouns. This new feature is available only in the English version of the game for the time being, with the developers saying that they will soon release it for other […]