Campaign to attract skilled employees

‘‘ IF WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE KEY REASONS THEY CHOSE THE DARLING DOWNS, WE CAN ENSURE THIS CAMPAIGN WILL RESONATE STRONGLY WITH POTENTIAL NEW RESIDENTS.

ONE of the biggest challenges currently in our region is attracting and retaining skilled employees.

The team at TSBE hears about it almost every day from our local business members who have job vacancies they just can’t fill. With so much opportunity in Toowoomba and a low unemployment of just 5.4%, it’s at the stage where this problem is limiting the economic growth of our whole region and so we here at TSBE want to do all we can to address the issue.

To find these candidates in other parts of Australia one solution we’re considering is an advertising campaign to promote the benefits of living and working in our region as well as the diverse and exciting jobs that we have available.

Having recently moved back to Toowoomba from Cairns with my partner Ivan, I know that our decision was made easy because of the awareness we had of all Toowoomba has to offer.

We love it here and appreciate the natural beauty, cafés, the many parks and gardens and so much more.

But maybe those things aren’t what most people outside the region are looking for? If we can tell the right story to others we want to bring here I am confident we can see many more qualified and skilled workers choose to make Toowoomba home.

To ensure this campaign is effective we are calling for help from our new resident community who have moved here in the past two to three years. If we can understand the key reasons they chose the Darling Downs, we can ensure this campaign will resonate strongly with potential new residents.

We also know that just bringing new residents here is not enough. We need to help them integrate well into our community. This is a very important part of the process because people will move back to their home within 18 months if they don’t fit in to a new place and this means that their partner finds a great job, their children find good a good school and that they have the opportunity to make new friends.

TSBE will be continuing to work hard to address this issue in our region as well as working on long term training and skilling for the jobs of the future.

If you have moved here in the past 2-3 years and are happy to complete a survey on what attracted you to the Darling Downs, please contact TSBE on info@tsbe.com.au.