NFP leaders feel pinch as skills shortage hits third sector according to their report “Upskilling and delivering in a digital world”.

Unemployment in Australia and New Zealand is sitting at record lows with limited fresh talent in the short term, despite promising indicators from the Jobs and Skills Summit. This fundamental mismatch in available jobs and the skills of job seekers to fill them is also affecting the Not-for-profit (NFP) sector – 75% of NFP CEOs have said they are feeling the adverse impacts of widespread skills shortages, according to PwC’s 3rd Annual Not-for-profit CEO Survey.

This year’s report explores insights from Australia’s and New Zealand’s NFP CEO’s for the first time. It delves into the impact of the skills shortages and the opportunity that upskilling presents as part of the employee value proposition, as well as delivery in a digital world including automation and cybersecurity, drawing on survey results from the perspective of NFP CEOs from small to large organisations across cause areas.

Building on purpose, mission and values-driven alignment which is innate to the NFP sector, 42% of NFPs are making moderate or significant progress around developing a compelling employee value proposition (EVP), up 8% from 2021. While this is progress, there is room for improvement with 19% of NFP CEO’s reporting that their organisation is making no progress or not considering developing an EVP and 39% only just starting to make progress.

“The NFP sector isn’t immune to the growing skills shortage pressures and the movement of talent. Macroeconomic factors have put the squeeze on household budgets, potentially forcing staff to move into higher paid industries out of necessity rather than choice,” said Social Impact Director at PwC Australia Jane Edwards.

“NFP CEOs can consider different mechanisms to address this including strengthening their organisation’s EVP, with a focus on role-based, career path upskilling and training, or outsourcing non-core activities to external providers.”