SOUTH Africans are to be recruited to fill council jobs in Western Australia as statewide skills shortages sparked by the booming mining sector threaten to decimate local government services.

The move comes on the heels of a new survey showing that difficulties attracting and retaining staff in the state are having a negative or very negative effect on a record 71 per cent of businesses.

State Local Government Association president Bill Mitchell said the shortage was so serious that the prospect of councils having to reduce services was "a very real possibility and probability".

Long delays for planning approvals and engineering work were likely if skilled staff could not be found.

Mr Mitchell said councils taking part in the South African recruitment drive would pay success fees of about $4000 for every vacancy filled but considered it well worth the money.

The association gave a shopping list of 80 jobs to recruiters, who will travel this week to South Africa hunting for town planners, engineers, accountants and environmental health officers.

Local government is Western Australia's third-biggest employer, with about 14,000 jobs, but Mr Mitchell said more than 10 per cent of jobs were unfilled as the sector competed with the booming resources industry.

The latest Commonwealth Bank-Chamber of Commerce and Industry business expectations survey found a record 76 per cent of businesses were worried about labour shortages, and many reported having to pay higher wages and incentives to keep staff.

Mr Mitchell said many councils were helping to pay HECS debts for new employees as one of a range of incentives.

In the September quarter, the index of non-wage labour costs surged to its highest level since the survey began in December 1997, and 38 per cent of respondents said they expected to raise prices in the next quarter as a result.

West Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief economist John Nicolaou said overcoming labour shortages must now be a priority for the state and federal governments.

"While shortages are still most pronounced among skilled workers and professionals, critical shortages have now also been observed among lower-skilled labouring jobs and junior workers," Mr Nicolaou said.

With business expansion and growth set to continue at a rapid pace, he said, labour shortages would remain a problem for some time. More than 40 per cent of respondents reported they wanted to hire more staff in the coming quarter.

Western Australia's record low unemployment rate of 3.1 per cent is causing problems for the state Government, which has more than 900 vacancies advertised. Last month alone, more than 3300 new jobs were created in the state.

Police have been forced to recruit overseas to cope with a shortfall of about 120 officers. The force's recent recruitment drive in South Africa attracted about 300 applications, which are now being worked through.

Police Minister John Kobelke said that in the past 18 months more than 270 officers had been recruited from countries including Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Singapore, Denmark and The Netherlands.

Mr Mitchell said councils would spend about $200,000 this year promoting local government as a career that offered a better quality of life for workers than the resources industry.

"You can get big money in the mining sector, but you need to weigh up lifestyle with a job that is two weeks on and two weeks off against what we offer - like flexible hours, childcare, job-sharing and the like."

--- Amanda O'Brien, The Australian

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