Plea to help fill jobs gap
JOBS in paradise are going begging with the young and old being urged to take a gap year in their own backyard.
Travel-hungry teens and grey nomads could lend a hand to businesses struggling to fill thousands of vacancies in beautiful locations.
From the sandy beaches of
Green Island, off Cairns, to ginger farms on the Sunshine Coast, bosses are pleading for staff – with no experience needed in some cases.
Growcom regional agriculture workforce officer Blair Brown said the lack of employees had hurt the industry but Australians looking for adventure could get it while working and exploring regional Queensland.
“Our lost crop register is over $50m and that’s the tip of the iceberg, that’s $50m worth of produce from 70-odd growers who answered the survey. I could probably name $10m off the top of my head from guys that I know,” Mr Brown said.
“Rather than going to France to be an au pair, we want you to travel to Mareeba to do mangoes or to Warwick to do wagyus and rodeos.”
Green Island Resort general manager Sue O’Donnell said the positions usually taken by backpackers were the hardest to fill.
“We can’t fill the positions, we can’t open up the whole resort permanently as we used to because we just don’t have the staff the guests need,” she said.
“The staff can snorkel in their breaks or after work, they can go swimming, the island is absolutely beautiful and has a rainforest on it.”
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland policy and advocacy general manager Amanda Rohan backed the idea of having a gap year locally, saying the peak business body was a big fan of working and playing in your own backyard.
She said further incentives should be looked at.