Young engineer grasps job offer

HOBART man Balaji Sivakumar was all geared up to begin work as Glenorchy City Council’s newest graduate engineer when COVID-19 hit, putting a halt on the role.

Mr Sivakumar, originally from India, said he was unsure what he would do for work this year when council staff told him the office would temporarily close in

March and the role would be put on ice.

But eager to keep the knowledgeable graduate onboard, GCC found a way to ensure he had temporary employment until operations returned to normal.

For the past three months Mr Sivakumar has worked on the council construction team and will next week begin the graduate position.

“I was told that it might be up to three months until I could begin the program, given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic,” he said. “Ten days later I received a call offering me employment in the construction team. It’s been really nice because I was doing nothing work-wise and it’s given me good practical experience.”

Mr Sivakumar’s supervisor Patrick Marshall said his new employee had gained experience most graduate engineers don’t often get.

“It gives him a good advantage when he comes to design things in the future,” Mr Marshall said. “When the pandemic broke out we thought we’d have to put off the appointment until things went normal and that would have meant he would be sitting there without a job.

“It would have also meant we could have lost that resource, so it’s been rewarding to see Balaji get that construction work.”