PIAA Survey Shows 79% of Groomers Struggle to Hire Skilled Staff

The PIAA grooming skills shortage is now a published number: 79% of operators in the 2025 pet grooming survey said finding skilled staff is extremely difficult, and 92% want better industry statistics. Updated 6 July 2026.

Figures on piaa.org.au are feeding July policy talks after news.com.au put salon handling on the national agenda. PIAA says it is working with state and federal departments on code updates that would require foundation welfare training across grooming, daycare, boarding, and walking.

Owners feel the gap as longer waits and rushed last slots, not as a pie chart.

What 79% looks like on a Tuesday

When four in five businesses cannot hire, appointment blocks stretch. Juniors take tables without a mentor in the room. Senior groomers who stay absorb the overflow, then burn out. Welfare groups have said that mix raises handling risk when the day runs late.

Seventy-six percent of surveyed operators backed mandatory animal care qualifications for new entrants. PIAA frames that as a welfare floor and a workforce filter at the same time. But a certificate on day one does not invent a senior scissorer by Friday.

How the survey sits beside licensing headlines

WA MP Amanda Dorn and Change.org organisers want licensing now. PIAA’s path is phased qualifications through industry codes rather than an overnight criminal penalty for unregistered operators. Those are different timetables. Owners still book next week either way.

Salons that keep apprentices and publish a stop policy can say so when the waitlist is six weeks. That’s a fair pitch. Don’t treat a PIAA logo as a spare pair of hands. If you need a clip before the coat felts, ask who actually holds the clippers, and how long they have been on the tools.

What owners can do in July 2026

Book the next slot at pickup. Ask whether juniors work under a named supervisor. Favour rooms that will refuse a finish when a dog shuts down, even if that costs them a Google star. Recurring four-to-six-week Oodle diaries fill first; winter mats don’t wait for a hire to land.

If you’re switching salons because the last one lost two staff, say that on the phone. A honest “we’re down a groomer” is better than a same-day squeeze. Read the June regulation summary if you want the political track; this survey is about why the diary is full.

What the rest of 2026 may change

The PIAA membership year reset on 1 July. Recruitment campaigns usually follow that date. TAFE and private trainers will market welfare modules if governments adopt the proposed code language. None of that clears a waitlist in August.

So plan grooming like flea control: standing intervals, not a panic call after eight weeks of harness rub. If a salon says they are training two apprentices, ask who signs off the dog before it leaves.

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