Businesses in Australia have been urged to solve their staffing problems by employing home-based operatives, it has emerged.

Travel and hospitality recruitment specialist TMS Asia Pacific says businesses in Australia are currently not making the best use of talented professionals that would work from home or under more flexible circumstances.

In addition, the company insists that travel and hospitality companies will be better placed to attract staff if the industry makes progress towards more flexile working arrangements.

Mandy Scotney, general manager at TMS, said: "The population continues to age and this, combined with record low unemployment figures, all points towards a situation where less people are entering the workforce than leaving.

"This is creating significant challenges for employers across the industry and needs to be addressed with significantly more onus placed on workplace flexibility."

A recent report from Citrix Online suggested that small firms are currently falling behind larger businesses when it comes to implementing flexible working practices.