Cost of Aussie workers investment risk

It's time to restrain employee costs or the country risks losing the next investment boom, a new study warns. Source: Supplied

THE additional costs of employing Australian workers are outstripping those of our competitors and risk sparking a long-term investment shortfall, a new survey shows.

An international study by accountancy firm UHY Haines Norton shows superannuation, workers' compensation and on-costs like payroll tax cost a business $13,122 for each employee earning $75,000.

At the extreme, businesses pay another $52,488 for a $300,000 salary - ranking Australia fifth-highest in terms of on-costs.

UHY Haines Norton Australia managing partner David Tomasi says these costs need to be restrained or the country risks losing the next investment boom.

''Because investment has a long lead time, most of the infrastructure work seen in Australia now was approved when the cost margins weren't as high,'' he said.

''We have now seen projects either put on hold or cancelled.

''We haven't seen the impact of that yet. We won't see it for another 10 or 20 years.''

Mr Tomasi said the Australian superannuation scheme would hopefully avoid the potential collapse seen in Greece and other European nations but decisions needed to be made about changes with an eye to their future economic impacts.

''If this continues, we are going to find we are not going to have the projects . . . that underpin future economic growth, and that means investment in our hospitals and schools, our social infrastructure,'' he said.

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said Australian wage and on-costs had always been high but had been masked by a lower Australian dollar in the past.

The rise and rise of the dollar was now backing companies into a corner, he said.

''There has been a trade-off between superannuation and wages - wages might have been higher without superannuation - but it (the higher Australian dollar) has left Australia becoming less competitive,'' he said.

''Businesses have only recently started to realise, quite recently, and there is now more of a focus on cost-cutting.''

The UHY Haines Norton survey tagged Brazil as the most expensive of the 25 countries surveyed, with more than 57 per cent additional costs, while Denmark was relatively lead, sporting on-costs of between 1.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent.

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Cost of Aussie workers investment risk

It's time to restrain employee costs or the country risks losing the next investment boom, a new study warns. Source: Supplied

THE additional costs of employing Australian workers are outstripping those of our competitors and risk sparking a long-term investment shortfall, a new survey shows.

An international study by accountancy firm UHY Haines Norton shows superannuation, workers' compensation and on-costs like payroll tax cost a business $13,122 for each employee earning $75,000.

At the extreme, businesses pay another $52,488 for a $300,000 salary - ranking Australia fifth-highest in terms of on-costs.

UHY Haines Norton Australia managing partner David Tomasi says these costs need to be restrained or the country risks losing the next investment boom.

''Because investment has a long lead time, most of the infrastructure work seen in Australia now was approved when the cost margins weren't as high,'' he said.

''We have now seen projects either put on hold or cancelled.

''We haven't seen the impact of that yet. We won't see it for another 10 or 20 years.''

Mr Tomasi said the Australian superannuation scheme would hopefully avoid the potential collapse seen in Greece and other European nations but decisions needed to be made about changes with an eye to their future economic impacts.

''If this continues, we are going to find we are not going to have the projects . . . that underpin future economic growth, and that means investment in our hospitals and schools, our social infrastructure,'' he said.

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said Australian wage and on-costs had always been high but had been masked by a lower Australian dollar in the past.

The rise and rise of the dollar was now backing companies into a corner, he said.

''There has been a trade-off between superannuation and wages - wages might have been higher without superannuation - but it (the higher Australian dollar) has left Australia becoming less competitive,'' he said.

''Businesses have only recently started to realise, quite recently, and there is now more of a focus on cost-cutting.''

The UHY Haines Norton survey tagged Brazil as the most expensive of the 25 countries surveyed, with more than 57 per cent additional costs, while Denmark was relatively lead, sporting on-costs of between 1.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent.

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Lloyds to sell stake in investment unit

Lloyds bank plans to sell 20 per cent of its holding in investment manager St James's Place. Source: AAP

BRITAIN'S state-rescued Lloyds bank says it will seek to sell 20 per cent of its holding in investment manager St James's Place, as part of ongoing restructuring efforts.

"Lloyds Banking Group plc announces today its intention to sell an anticipated minimum 102 million ordinary shares in St James's Place plc, representing approximately 20 per cent of the company's existing issued ordinary share capital," it said in a brief statement.

"The placing reflects Lloyds' strategy to simplify the group and focus on its core customer franchise."

Earlier this month, Lloyds had posted annual losses of STG1.43 billion ($A2.10 billion), hit by huge insurance mis-selling compensation, but it awarded its boss a bonus linked to an eventual sale of the government's stake.

The loss after tax was almost half the STG2.79 billion shortfall it suffered in 2011.

The bank is 39 per cent owned by the British government after a state bailout following the 2008 global financial crisis.

Lloyds also said that chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio would receive a 2012 performance bonus of STG1.485 million, deferred in shares until 2018.

However, at Horta-Osorio's request, the bonus will be paid only if the British government sells at least a third of its stake above 61 pence - the average price it paid during the bank's bailout - within the next five years.

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