Stefan Bradley
JOBS Victoria hosted a forum at the Gippsland Performing Arts Centre on Thursday August 25 to look at ways the state government, local businesses and communities can work together to identify opportunities and develop new approaches to address workforce challenges.
Local employer Sherryll Ray, the owner of Noel’s Panel Works in Moe, shared her experience of working with Jobs Victoria to find the staff her business needed.
For Mrs Ray that involved hiring young man Curtis Hood through Qualify Gippsland.
“I had meetings with Qualify. Before then it wasn’t easy (in job interviews) because I didn’t have my (driver’s) licence,” Mr Hood said.
Mr Hood worked towards getting his licence, and Qualify helped set up an interview with Noel’s Panel Works.
“I did that interview with Sherryl and they put me on the team … been there about seven months now,” he said.
Through Jobs Victoria, the government paid for the tools Mr Hood needed to start his apprenticeship, and an employer subsidy helped Mrs Ray to install an additional spray booth for him to use.
The new addition to Mrs Ray’s business has increased overall productivity, and most importantly, created secure employment for Mr Hood.
“Curtis Hood came on board for a work trial, and we were very happy with him and we employed him as an apprentice,” Mrs Ray said.
Mrs Ray says it was very difficult to find employees before the program.
“And now we’ve found a very polite, decent, hardworking young man,” she said.
“The support we’ve had from Jobs Victoria means we’ve got a worker who’s turning out to be a great tradesman, and a young man has been given an opportunity to complete an apprenticeship that will lead to a career.”
Also speaking at the forum was Minister for Employment Jaala Pulford, who said that Victoria will need an extra 373,000 workers across 13 key industries by 2025, according to the state government’s Skills Plan.
“Employers in the room may be wondering where they’re going to find those people,” Ms Pulford said.
“All the job service providers folks (know) that there are 700,000 Victorians that are either out of work or are underemployed and therefore able to do more work, and we just find them the right way to get there.
“In Gippsland alone, that’s 13,000 extra people into work.”
In July, the unemployment rate in Victoria fell to 3.1 per cent.
But in Gippsland, young people aged 18 to 25 are overrepresented in unemployment figures, among those finding it most difficult to get work.
“Youth unemployment in Gippsland is still more than 17 per cent,” Ms Pulford said.
The Gippsland forum was one in a series of Jobs Victoria forums being held across the state.
Feedback from the forums will inform future statewide and local employment strategies.
“A forum like this creates new partnerships to better connect employers and people looking for work, so we can get more people into jobs and ease workforce shortages,” Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing said.
Jobs Victoria assists people looking for work and connects employers with the staff they need.
It provides information, advice, and support in person, on the phone, and via the Jobs Victoria online hub.
