Easter holiday travellers are facing travel chaos at Australian airports as a 30% staff shortage leads to three-hour long queues at security screening. People are sleeping on floors, families have missed flights and many planes have been cancelled due to the issue. So what is the cause?
According to Sydney airport CEO, Geoff Culbert it’s all because of the tough labour market in Australia driven by pandemic-induced low unemployment. As he explained to Channel 9’s Today Show they knew the surge was coming and ‘started recruiting in December last year. We just haven’t been able to get enough people.’
I hear this a lot when it comes to the ‘people’ side of business. In any other business function, leaders are motivated to solve challenges. If sales are down or the accounting software is causing errors no one will go, ‘Oh there is nothing we can do about that’ and just keep doing what they’ve always done, blaming external conditions for the poor result. In the same way, those who break out of their conventional cycle of limiting paradigms and circular excuses can implement innovative ‘people’ strategies that attract and keep more good recruits. Companies that don’t address this issue will particularly suffer in tighter labour markets like we have now.
Unfortunately in the case of Sydney Airport’s current hiring woes I fear they are now in the excuse cycle and it’s the travelling consumers who are copping the brunt of the inefficiencies. Here’s why I say this. Open the SEEK ad for Sydney Airport aviation screening officers and as one example you’ll see that they’re recruiting for people with ‘24/7 Availability to work a Rotating Shift Roster’. Can’t wait to sign up, hey! This is a classic example of thinking about what the business wants, not what applicants seek. Most people want some form of work/life balance so being available 24/7 knocks out a major percentage of potential candidates and certainly the best ones.
Thinking differently, is it really necessary for everyone to be available nights and 24/7? A Brisbane bus company solved a lot of its driver problems by creating a shift time from 9.30-2.30 and filling it with parents who only wanted to work school hours. A manufacturer advertised that people could choose their own 8-hour shift times from 6am to 4 pm and now has a waitlist of people wanting to work for them. A footwear company who couldn’t get enough podiatrists created an industry-leading flexible work option, advertising that people could work four 10-hour days, rather than five 8-hour days. Having struggled to hire anyone for months, they filled all their vacant positions in 2 weeks.
For Sydney Airport, the current ad will not solve its recruiting problems and I foresee ongoing travel chaos in peak surges. Unless the organization adapts its offering and implements creative ‘people’ strategies that align with worker’s goals as well as the business needs, it will always be at the back of the hiring queue. And the problem is that leaves Australian travellers stuck in the queue as well. As author Norman Vincent Peale once said: ‘Believe you are defeated, believe it long enough, and it is likely to become fact.’