While wage growth will be a dominant issue at the jobs summit,the government’s discussion paper for the event suggests it is looking at longer-term issues.
Ahead of the early September summit,a discussion paper for its 100 attendees reveals the government – under pressure from the squeeze on workers’ incomes – wants to also focus on sustaining low unemployment while overturning a decade of declining productivity growth.
The government is expecting the summit,which will include representatives from business,unions and the non-government sector,to deliver policy ideas that can feed into the October budget as well as a broader employment white paper to be released next year.
While wage growth will be a dominant issue at the jobs summit,the government’s discussion paper for the event suggests it is looking at longer-term issues.
They include discussion points about major trends that could change the structure of the economy,forcing businesses to find new staff in emerging areas or requiring the retraining of workers they already employ.
“How can government and businesses maximise the opportunities presented by the structural trends impacting the economy,including the climate and energy transition,while ensuring the benefits are shared fairly?” it asks.
“How can we best take advantage of structural changes like digitalisation,climate change,the
shift to renewable energy,the ageing population,and growth in the services sector and care
economy to boost productivity and sustain full employment?”
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The discussion paper makes clear the industrial relations system,particularly around ensuring productivity-related changes lead to better wages for workers,is open for debate among attendees.
One of those likely to attend the summit,ACTU secretary Sally McManus,said the wage price index figures confirm workers’ wages had fallen back to 2011 levels,arguing the summit had to deal with the “serious failure” of the income system.
“It is clear that we have a serious systemic problem. We have been promised wages would go up when productivity goes up – they have not,” she said.
“We were promised that when business does well pay rises will come – they have not.”
Commonwealth Bank chief economist Gareth Aird said the wages figures made clear there was no wage-price spiral to force the Reserve Bank into more aggressive interest rate increases in coming months.
“The upshot is that whilst wages growth across the economy is moving higher and some people are receiving large pay rises,there has not been broad‑based wages pressures. Indeed,real wages growth is deeply negative,” he said.
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