Bracing for new economy
CITY leaders believe the Gold Coast’s enviable lifestyle is key to attracting those who’ll help its economy diversify – but widening the job market can’t come soon enough.
Gold Coasters are crying out for a much broader range of employment with 90 per cent of respondents to a Bulletin Golden Age survey saying the job market needs to be “diversified”.
Asked also if they thought there were plentiful employment opportunities on the Gold Coast, 66 per cent responded “no” compared to 34 per cent replying “yes”.
Dubbed the small business capital of Australia, the Gold Coast economy is home to 64,848 businesses, 34.5 per cent of which are involved in either construction or real estate.
Retail, healthcare and hospitality are ranked as the city’s top three employers of the 254,912 jobs available on the Gold Coast.
Australia’s sixth largest city – responsible for 10.9 per cent of the state’s annual Gross Regional Product – has long been making an effort to expand its construction and tourism-dominated economy.
Diane Dixon, project director of the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct (GCHKP) at Southport, said it was the lifestyle employers can offer staff that was proving a draw for investment.
Ms Dixon said the city was the best placed in the country to catch the next wave of the economy, as employees increasingly seek liveability and connectivity with learning centres.
The multi-billion dollar Health and Knowledge Precinct – already home to Griffith University, Gold Coast University Hospital and Gold Coast Private Hospital – is anticipated to eventually boast 12,400 high-value jobs.
“We need to make sure a pipeline from education into the economy is streamlined. There are a few gaps in skills on the Coast so for us it is about being able to address those,” she said.
But it was the lifestyle employers can offer staff that was proving to be the draw for investment on the Gold Coast, Ms Dixon said.
“Internationally I have found a lot of employers are about a more rounded approach,” Ms Dixon said.
“The world is such a small place with connectivity so we need to have something credible to sell.
“Having the right opportunities here, in the precinct like advanced design and manufacturing centres means we won’t just rest on the laurels. Industry partnership, collaboration and the right workforce is only able to be retained if it is a serious place for them to work and continue their careers.”
Gold Coast Combined Chamber of Commerce president Martin Brady said as one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia, it was more important than ever to tackle challenges of connectivity – both online and on roads – head on.
“Businesses survive with connectivity,” Mr Brady said.
“We don’t have the large government sector, we don’t have the major corporate base, the Gold Coast is a selfmade city of smaller businesses – they can’t afford not to get where they have to go,” he said.
To ensure the best and brightest of the population stays to make their careers on the Gold Coast, lawyer and businessman John Witheriff said connectivity was key.
“In a smart economy we need to move to, you need to have an internet that is reliable, frankly there are parts of the Gold Coast that you can’t even stream Netflix,” he said.
“A draw for skilled professionals to the Gold Coast is its natural beauty and if they can function in the new economy with new internet and logistics, then you will find there will be useful work for people.”
THE Gold Coast is no longer just the little seaside village it used to be not too long ago.
But that highly attractive aspect of the Gold Coast is still retained in spades along the length of its 42 kilometres of coastline.
Yes, the sixth-largest city in Australia has plenty more strings to its bow nowadays and has become a much more complex and bustling place.
Yet still, residents are crying out for increasing diversification of industry and the job market in the place they call home.
In the Bulletin’s Golden Age campaign today, our readership survey reveals 90 per cent of respondents are desperate for more job market diversification.
Intriguingly, it is the very beach culture and enviable lifestyle the Gold Coast is famous for which may well prove its biggest drawcard for attracting movers and shakers who drive innovation, investment and broaden the economy. In an increasingly connected world in which more people are able to work from anywhere they choose, the Gold Coast is firmly in the box seat.
If you could be anywhere, then why wouldn’t you be here? Our weather is gorgeous and as consistent as you’ll find.
The Gold Coast itself, notwithstanding a certain highway between here and Brisbane and problems with major aterials, is a comparatively easy place to get around.
Construction and tourism are always going to be strong breadwinners in this part of the world. There is nothing wrong with that and long may both thrive and prosper. But exciting things are happening outside of those arenas too.
The city’s Health and Knowledge Precinct has become a hub with critical mass to foster innovation, particularly in health.
It doesn’t sound super sexy as a slogan but Urbis associate director Martin Garred, quoted today, is bang on when he says the city should be pitching itself as the best place to ensure employee retention.
It’s time to think bold, to dream big. How do we get a Google or Apple to HQ here? When you ask such questions, it’s surprising how often the answers are within reach.