Workforce losing $7 billion annually due to non-compete clauses — Leigh
The Australian workforce is losing $7 billion annually as a result of non-compete clauses, according to Assistant Minister for Employment Andrew Leigh, who called for further scrutiny of the necessity of such clauses in the country.
Leigh, in an opinion piece for The West Australian, came up with the estimation based on recent research from the e61 thinktank that revealed workers under non-compete clauses earn four per cent less on average.
"Taking account of the fact that one in five workers are subject to a non‑compete clause, this implies that non‑compete clauses are driving down average wages across the board by more than $500 a year," the assistant minister said in the article.
"Across the workforce, that's a $7 billion hit to worker pay."
Leigh made the remarks as he called for further scrutiny of non-compete clauses.
"In an economy experiencing skills shortages, does it really make sense to ask scarce human talent to languish for months on the bench?" the assistant minister said.
He recalled one "shocking" story unveiled by the Competition Taskforce in the Australian Treasury on the impact of non-compete clauses in the workforce. The taskforce found that a bullied worker was unable to resign from their job due to concerns that the non-compete clause would prevent them from moving to a similar job.
"It's time we took a hard look at whether non‑compete clauses...
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