As Australia marks 21 years of continued economic growth, a feat unmatched by any other developed country, not everyone is celebrating.
While the mining boom is creating unprecedented prosperity for businesses within the sector, for others it serves only to push up prices and starve them of the skills they need for growth.
Is your business richer or poorer as a result of the resources boom? And how can companies which are not in the mining sector feel the benefit? These are amongst the questions posed by UQ Business School to businesses as part of the ‘Challenging the Future’ campaign to mark the School’s tenth anniversary.
Professor Andrew Griffiths, Dean of UQ Business School, said: “While the resources boom has helped Australia to achieve record-breaking growth, the combination of skills shortages and the high exchange rate which it has created is harming the competitiveness of sectors such as manufacturing and tourism.
“With the boom likely to continue for the foreseeable future, businesses will need to consider how best to survive in a two-speed economy. For mining companies the priority is to improve productivity, while those in other sectors should consider if there are ways to benefit from it. Some have already done so - not necessarily because their product or service is a natural fit but by creating a niche or answering a problem.
“As we celebrate the end of our first decade, we’re encouraging organisations to look to the challenges of the future. UQ Business School aims to help them to keep abreast of issues like these. Over the next ten years we will be playing a key role in helping Australian business to adapt to the changes and develop the skills and solutions necessary to support a thriving economy.”
