17 Feb REPORTING SEASON – THE TRUE COST OF A PANDEMIC; LABOUR SHORTAGES PINCH
Welcome to this week’s business and media intelligence update.
REPORTING SEASON – THE TRUE COST OF A PANDEMIC
We are three weeks into reporting season and investors are finding out the disruptive nature of a global pandemic – and the costs involved.
With labour shortages, higher energy prices and supply chain issues on the rise, Australian listed companies reporting results this week confirmed what consumers suspected: prices are rising across a range of industries including retail, manufacturing, building and rail haulage.
Building supplier Boral is lifting prices out of cycle across its concrete, asphalt and quarry products in order to earn back more than $6 million in increasing energy and diesel costs.
JB Hi-Fi is also raising prices, with supply chain constraints forcing the electronics retailer and market darling, to increase price tags by between eight to 10 per cent for fridges and washing machines.
The closure of several coal-fired power stations also has Australian households and businesses worried. In the past fortnight, both Origin Energy and AGL Energy announced the early exit of their respective Eraring, Baywater and Loy Yang A coal power stations, triggering concern over a further rise in electricity prices.
LABOUR SHORTAGES PINCH
Another common phrase in this season’s earnings reports: “labour shortages”.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 159 million fewer hours were worked in January compared to the previous month.
Usually, an average of 100,00 people take a week of sick leave in January, but this year, that number climbed to 450,000.
Companies, particularly those operating in the retail, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors, are feeling the pinch, with the tightened workforce impacting financial performance, operations, and overall business confidence.
Urban services group Downer EDI blamed labour shortages for impacting workflow and delaying new projects, while Transurban said the reintroduction of pandemic restrictions like mask-wearing hurt traffic flows on its toll roads this year, delivering an interim net loss of $103 million.
FIGHTING … FOR HAPPINESS
Outside of labour shortages, companies are also grappling with employees leaving jobs at record rates as many white collar workers rethink their goals and priorities.
In an urgent effort to boost morale and reduce turnover, leaders and managers are flocking to what has become one of Harvard Business School’s most popular courses: the Leadership and Happiness course.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the course promises to teach future leaders an elusive skill — managing happiness.
But you will have to hurry to enroll. There are only 180 spots on the course, and they are selling like, well, like hotcakes.
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