A gym is offering a £3,000 signing on fee for personal trainer jobs– but nobody wants to do it.
The Queensland company says it has been left with no choice but to resort to cash incentives amid a critical workers shortage.
Christian Sutton, from Conquer Fitness, said finding employees has been “incredibly difficult" amid Australia's job market.
His business has been offering £3,000 to people signing on – close to 15% of a personal trainer’s estimated annual income of £41,000.
He told the National Sunrise: "There are so many avenues that we are offering in the incentive package, to get people out there.
"It's been a real struggle to find qualified and skilled workers to come and be personal trainers in the gym, for sure."
His comments come as companies across the board have been left desperate for staff - with some offering signing bonuses as high as £7,000.
As a result, Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said more and more businesses are looking to hire multiple staff members to plug the gaps.
“A quarter of businesses reported having at least one vacancy in May this year,” he said.
It comes as the proportion of employers offering a ‘golden hello’ signing bonus in an effort to woo recruits has soared by 75% in just three months in the UK.
Competition to attract nurses is especially intense, with some employers offering an instant £5,000 bonus to successful applicants, according to new research from job site Indeed.
The use of signing incentives is also rising fastest among those recruiting gas engineers, pharmacists, drivers and social carers.
In the three months to August 2, the number of job vacancies in the UK broke through the one million mark for the first time on record.
Indeed said the use of signing incentives, first trigged by £10,000 cash for care workers, is rising fastest among those recruiting gas engineers, pharmacists, drivers and social carers.
These incentives are being offered on top of rapidly rising wages, with previous research by Indeed showing that high demand for workers in the construction, transport, manufacturing and food industries is leading wage growth in those sectors to far outstrip that in the rest of the UK economy.
Wages have risen fastest in the construction industry, soaring by 8.2% between February and August, while wages for driving jobs are up 7.6% and manufacturing roles by 5.2%.
