Farmers warn backpacker visa changes could push up food prices as the struggle for workers continues. A range of changes come into effect for Australian visa programs from July 1, including a 25 percent increase in visa charges for working holiday makers. The National Farmers Federation said the changes will make Australia up to five…

Nurses working 24-hour shifts at a major Western Australia (WA) hospital demonstrates the risks facing staff and patients in the public health system amid ongoing staffing pressures, a union says. Unplanned sick leave and an exceptionally high number of intensive care patients on May 17 forced Perth’s Fiona Stanley Hospital to call for staff to work…

Small businesses are struggling to hire owing to a shortage of qualified applicants, while also being challenged by inflation, according to reports by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Forty-three percent of owners had job openings they could not fill in March, on a seasonally adjusted basis, said NFIB’s March 2023 Jobs Report. Meanwhile,…

Small businesses are struggling to hire owing to a shortage of qualified applicants, while also being challenged by inflation, according to reports by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Forty-three percent of owners had job openings they could not fill in March, on a seasonally adjusted basis, said NFIB’s March 2023 Jobs Report. Meanwhile,…

An acute shortage of health-care workers that’s harming both patients and workers is putting front and centre the question of how to solve the problem. Statistics Canada data shows that job vacancies in health care were almost twice as high in the final quarter of 2021 as they were in the final quarter of 2019,…

Australian companies that supply human heart valve replacements to the United States have been struggling to fulfil export orders due to the industry’s worker shortage. Queensland-based Nolan Meats, one of several Australian businesses accredited to supply bovine tissue to U.S. medical companies for the heart valve replacements—which are created from the delicate tissue around a…

Commentary Businesses complain incessantly these days of labor shortages. Rising wage rates would seem to induce more people to seek paid employment, and they have to some extent. Still, a historical shortfall exists in the percent of the population at work or actively seeking employment, a shortfall that has limited the economy’s growth potential. Because…

Companies are struggling to hire seasonal workers as they head into the busy holiday season during one of the tightest labor markets in U.S. history. During the last four weeks, the number of part-time jobs has increased by 31.4 percent, according to data from global job search engine Adzuna. The rise coincides with the National Retail…

Commentary President Joe Biden blames inflation on supply chain problems. He has assured the American people that since supply problems will lift soon so will inflation pressures. He is wrong on both counts. The inflation reflects more than supply chain problems, but even if it were just supply matters, they will persist longer than he…

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called for the federal government and states to take swift action to address “the country’s ever-worsening workforce crisis,” as the economy gains momentum, triggering a strong demand for labor. “America’s great economic resurgence is being held back by an unprecedented workforce shortage—and it’s getting worse,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president…