Panel interview with the Today Show Saturday

20th August 2022

BELINDA RUSSELL: Good morning to both of you, Jane to you first, you know, perhaps Aussies are just holding on to their jobs because they're worried that Scott Morrison is going to come in. Today they're doing something right. Everyone's happy to stay.

JANE HUME: I actually heard of an employer in Sydney, a restaurant group that was giving their staff a $5,000 sign-on bonus because they have such a worker shortage that they can't get staff unless they provide these incentives. Of course, that's really hard on most employers that can't afford to do that. We have this jobs and work summit coming up that the government's hosting, but there are still things that they could have been doing right now. In fact, the opposition put forward a pension work bonus idea which would have allowed older Australians on the age pension to go back to work and earn more to fill those skills gaps because that's the priority right now. So hopefully, something good will come out of this job summit, and it's not just a union talk fest.

RUSSELL: Yeah, as you say, Jane, you know, the kind of getting the staff in the first place, let alone holding on to them. Tom, there's actually been an increase in the number of people saying that they have no intention of changing jobs. You know, it's more important than ever for businesses to be retaining staff.

TOM REHN: Absolutely, Belinda, and I think the old saying good people are hard to find has never been more true. I think employees sensing that there could be, you know, this great resignation got on the front foot and implemented policies to try and increase engagement amongst its employees. So I think that's really important, but I think it probably also shows to people that, you know, employers don't want to lose you. It is really hard to fill positions, and it's more costly than keeping your current staff, so maybe it's time to ask for that pay rise after all.

RUSSELL: Good advice on Monday. Moving on, we have a public service announcement for all chicken Parmi lovers this morning, the price of the pub favourites is set to soar due to increasing production costs. Tom, the nation's largest poultry producer, England, whose share price has tumbled by 8 per cent, has warned of these price hikes. You know this is not okay. I'm not I'm not cool with this.

REHN: Beef, beer, and now chicken. I mean, what's next? The cheapest meal. It's literally gone, isn't it? It is really hard to get a cheap meal now. You can't even get a cheap salad unless you say hold the lettuce. So it's tough, but you know what, I still love nothing more than a chicken Parmi with mushroom sauce. That's my little go, so I'm prepared to pay a few extra dollars if I have to. But disappointing nonetheless.

RUSSELL: Disappointing. That's really what's disappointing is a mushroom sauce with chickens. That's disappointing. Jane. This is an Australian right, but I mean, I guess the other great debate. Do you call it Parma in Victoria?

HUME: Exactly right, the chicken Parma. You know I was actually having this discussion this week with a pub owner in northeast Victoria. Here's the sleeper issue. The cost of frozen chips has gone up by 30% since January. So it's not just the chicken parma that's going down. It's his steaks, it's your beef and reef, it's the lot if you have chips on the side, so the cost of everything is going up. That's why it's so important that we have an economic plan to deal with inflation. Not just you know, talkfests, but either at this job summit or by the government right now, it's so important that we have a plan to bring down the cost of living and bring down inflation whether it's at the bowser, whether it's at the pub getting a chicken parma, whether it's at the grocery store, whether it's paying your mortgages, we've got to rein in that cost of living, and the government's got to concentrate on this as its priority.

RUSSELL: Yes, yes. We still want to be out to say winner winner chicken dinner. All right, team. Have a great weekend. Thank you for your time.