Dr Sam Wylie

And the same thing's happening in Europe and in the US, for instance.

And a part of that is that people have a long-term concern about their job security.

In the back of their mind, there is this fear, will I be relevant in the workforce?

Will there be lots of work for me and the skill set that I have going forward over many years?

And part of that fear about whether there'll be plenty of work for them is stopping people from asking for wage increases that they might otherwise ask for.

And so we're not seeing a price-wage spiral where prices go up, people demand higher wages, which drives up prices, which drives up wages.

I mean, that may still be in the future.

That may still come.

But it's somewhat muted by this fear about people's relevancy in the economy long term.

And really, the only way to deal with that relevancy, as I was saying, is keep your skills up, keep a flexible frame of mind.

Yeah, I think that's definitely right.

And that's a long-term concern for people.

about whether there is this position for them in the workforce.

I mean, COVID, another sort of layer on this is that COVID has changed people's work arrangements so much.

So in renegotiating your arrangements with employers, it's not all about money.

So it's about, can I work four days a week?

Or can I live in Tamworth and work in Sydney?

for instance, or can I live in Townsville and have my job in Melbourne, for instance.

So workplace flexibility has become, because it's so much more feasible now to live where you want and to work somewhere else or to work the hours, to spend the hours in the office or in the factory that suit you rather than suit the employer so much.

That's a big factor as well, and that's affecting wages as well.