As some doors close, others open for council workforce
MORE than 35 City of Greater Geelong employees have been redeployed to provide support to the council’s workforce as it continues to deliver essential community services during the coronavirus pandemic.
Workers whose roles were impacted by necessary facilities closures have had fasttracked training to become welfare contact officers in an innovative new program offering redeployment opportunities and important health assistance for council employees.
Welfare contact officers are responsible for providing confidential social and emotional support and connecting individuals with relevant resources.
City of Greater Geelong chief executive Martin Cutter said the welfare contact officer program was about checking in with workers and identifying those who were vulnerable and might need extra support.
“City employees are responsible for providing a huge range of services for our community and ensuring our people are supported during these unprecedented times is vital,”
Mr Cutter said. “It is also providing an important retraining and redeployment opportunity for city employees whose roles have been impacted by facilities closures.”
Council said other local governments across Victoria were looking to the program as a model for implementation of similar programs locally.
In late March the city confirmed 576 workers had been stood down, including staff from swim, sport and leisure centres, stadiums, the Potato Shed, the National Wool Museum and the Carousel.
Since the closure of the facilities, more than 215 roles have been filled through the city’s temporary redeployment program, out of nearly 250 positions made available.