The recently-released bi-annual Business Conditions Report of the Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA) for the first half of the year found that labor shortages and rising workforce costs have been recognized as the major challenges in the caravan industry.
The CIAA created the report to highlight the major trends in Australia’s caravan industry and the increasing challenges it faces.
The report shows the complexities that the increased business costs, rising energy prices, supply chain, and rising workforce costs do to the caravan industry.
It also saw that 76% of the industry felt the major impact of labor shortages and rising workforce costs. Meanwhile, 90% of the industry is feeling the effects of rising energy costs, which remains the largest business cost in the industry.
The caravan industry is strengthening some factors like strong bookings and orders, which must remain strong, to combat the fast-rising costs and weakening profit margins, according to the Australian association.
In a LinkedIn post by the CIAA, the association’s CEO, Stuart Lamont, said while he’s pleased to see the industry’s contribution to both the domestic tourism market and manufacturing industry remains strong, the rising costs of business are a concern.
“Every segment of our industry is hurting in some way; many faces no other alternative than to pass some of the additional costs onto the consumer,” Stuart said.
During the Jobs and Skill Summit, Employment Minister Tony Burke found issues with the Fair Work Act, which he hopes to address immediately like prioritizing the removal of “unnecessary limitations” to single and multi-employer agreements.
Some solutions to the issues in the Fair Work Act also include providing better access to flexible work arrangements and unpair parental leave to help families share work and caring responsibilities between themselves.
On the other hand, the caravan industry still experienced some positives. Its revenue is expected to stay steady with growth potential over the next six months as employment and capital expenditure stabilize.
It will help offset the expected increases in the average wage cost, material prices, and overheads, and a weakening economy aligning with broader finance, industry, and consumer sentiment on the impact of future interest rate rises and economic uncertainty.