Successful employment initiative aiming for even better results in 2019 Project gets 60 to work in FNQ
A SCHEME to provide apprenticeship and traineeship positions for Cairns’ unemployed has smashed its target.
Employment organisation Busy At Work provided jobs for 60 Far North jobseekers, beating its target goal of 50 by the end of 2018.
Busy At Work managing director Paul Miles said many local employers jumped on board for the inaugural Cairns50 apprenticeship drive.
“There are decent employers in Cairns and skill shortages in crucial areas,” Mr Miles said. “The idea behind the program was to approach those employers with State and Federal Government incentives to create apprenticeship and traineeship vacancies for local jobseekers, particularly schoolleavers and long-term unemployed.”
Mr Miles said they identified key vacancies in cooking and hairdressing, while construction, retail and administration were the biggest employers.
“We tend to have a big campaign at the end of the year, because there are so many school leavers and young people who … don’t know what they’re going to do,” he said.
“This year, we’ll try and shoot for a higher target. We exceeded our first goal of 50.”
Worklink employment services manager Stephanie Coleman said NDIS and support services roles would be a growing area for jobseekers in 2019.
“Cairns is always recruiting in hospitality and tourism, which offer a wide variety of flexible roles to suit different people,” she said.
“Within the sphere of NDIS and disability support, admin and support service positions are good relevant positions for school leavers, as they’re not as intensive on specific qualifications and instead focus on attitude and presentation.”
Federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said the success of the Busy At Work inaugural run was promising.
“It is fantastic to see Busy at Work smash the jobs target they set,” he said.
“The Australian Government is proud to partner with organisations such as Busy at Work to assist people find meaningful employment.”