Workforce Planning and Development

The South Australian Wine Industry Association brought the issue of labour and skills shortages facing the wine industry to the attention of the South Australian Wine Industry Council and addressing it has been incorporated as a key objective of the Wine: A Partnership 2005-2010 strategy ( http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/wine ).

The South Australian wine industry is facing the challenge of maintaining profitability in a volatile market environment. In addition, the ageing population coupled with an already tight labour market, especially for skilled workers will have implications for wine and grape businesses, given the projected increase in employment levels required to match anticipated production targets.

While some wine and grape businesses are aware of these workforce issues and have started to adjust their recruitment and retention practices, many have not yet fully embraced workforce planning and development in a strategic way.

South Australia’s population of labour force age (between 15 to 64 years) is expected to decline within 6 years, much sooner than the Australian population as a whole. Labour supply will simply not be able to meet the demands of the economy. Competition, especially for skilled workers, will become intense. Failure to address these issues now will result in a wine industry vulnerable to the effect of labour shortages (and skills), poaching of workers and wage volatility.

The Food, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Skills Advisory Council SA Inc. (FTH), has now completed the South Australian Wine Industry Employment Strategy Project (SAWIES). The following project resources (see the Resources section of this page) contain a significant amount of information that can assist wine and grape businesses to best plan for their future workforce needs:

• Small employer survey
• Overall research report (Employer and Employee) summary
• Employee Research Report
• Workforce profile (currently refers to 2001 Census data to be updated to 2006 shortly)