BETTER CONNECTIONS BETTER OUTCOMES

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BETTER CONNECTIONS BETTER OUTCOMES

• IMPROVING LABOUR MARKET EFFECTIVENESS
• Toowoomba
• Employment Service Area
• 20 November 2007

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Origins of the workshops

• DEWR undertakes a range of research and analysis
  of labour supply and skill shortages
• DEWR, with other Government agencies, is looking
  at how to address Australias labour supply and
  skill shortages
• Run a series of workshops to share information
  and ideas

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Objective of the workshops

• Improve Labour Market Effectiveness by
• addressing labour supply and skill shortage
  issues
• increasing labour market participation (target
  groups mature aged, parents, people with a
  disability, Indigenous Australians, long-term
  unemployed, people from culturally and
  linguistically diverse backgrounds, youth)
• establishing and further developing linkages
  between relevant organisations

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Outcomes of Prior Workshops

• South West Brisbane developing a network of
  service providers and other stakeholders to share
  information and foster a working relationship to
  meet employers needs
• South East Brisbane collaboration with key
  stakeholder to trial new strategies for better
  job matching e.g. Pilot a website to test
  interest of registered clients
• Cairns establish a work group with service
  providers and other stakeholders for better
  linkage of programmes and service delivery
• Maryborough employer awareness session,
  improved access by employers to Traineeship and
  Apprenticeship programmes

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Agenda

• Welcome and Introductions
• Better Connections presentation
• Identification and discussion of issues
• Developing an action plan
• Drawing it together
• Closing Remarks

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Toowoomba Employment Service Area
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Toowoomba Demographic Profile

• Working Age Population (15-64) 108 600
• Age distribution is broadly similar to that of
  the state and Australia
• Unemployment rate 3.2
• Similar proportion receiving Centrelink allowance
  compared with the State
• A large number of Humanitarian Entrants
  settlements
• Area has a significant number of people who
  identify as Indigenous.

Source ABS Population Estimates June 2005 2006
Census Centrelink Admin data, September 2007
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Toowoomba Industry Profile

• Major employing industries Retail Trade Health
  and Community Services Manufacturing and
  Education.

Source 2001 and 2006 Census
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Toowoomba Survey of Employers Recruitment
Experiences

• 313 employers, concentrated in five key
  industries.
• 82 per cent of employers surveyed had recruited
  or attempted to recruit in the past 12 months.
• 12 per cent of vacancies were not filled.
• 28 per cent of employers reported one or more
  unfilled vacancies.
• 77 per cent of employers reported difficulty
  filling vacancies.

Source DEWR, Toowoomba Survey of Employers
Recruitment Experiences, September 2007
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Toowoomba Success filling recent vacancies
Source DEWR, Toowoomba Survey of Employers
Recruitment Experiences, September 2007
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Toowoomba Competition for recent vacancies
Source DEWR, Toowoomba Survey of Employers
Recruitment Experiences, September 2007
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Toowoomba Reasons applicants were unsuitable
Source DEWR, Toowoomba Survey of Employers
Recruitment Experiences, September 2007
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Toowoomba Difficult to fill occupations

• Higher skilled occupations
• Civil Engineers
• Accountants
• Metal Fitters and Machinists
• Structural Steel and Welding Tradespersons
• Motor Mechanics
• Electricians
• Carpentry and Joinery Tradespersons and
  Cabinetmakers
• Medium and lower skilled occupations
• General Clerks
• Receptionists
• Sales Representatives and Sales Assistants
• Truck Drivers and Delivery Drivers
• Storepersons
• Meat Process Workers

Source DEWR, Toowoomba Survey of Employers
Recruitment Experiences, September 2007
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Toowoomba Recruitment Expectations

• 74 per cent of employers expect to recruit in the
  next 12 months.
• 62 per cent of employers who expect to recruit
  anticipate employment growth over the next 12
  months.
• 63 per cent of employers who expect to recruit
  anticipate replacing staff in the next 12 months.
• 74 per cent of employers who expect to recruit
  anticipate difficulty.
• 70 per cent of employers who expect to recruit
  would provide development opportunities.

Source DEWR, Toowoomba Survey of Employers
Recruitment Experiences, September 2007
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Toowoomba JNM and JPO activity

• Opportunities for employment service providers to
  work with businesses in the area.
• Labouring vacancies accounted for 47 per cent of
  vacancies lodged with JNMs and JPOs.
• Placements of Humanitarian Entrants were also
  predominantly in labouring positions.
• Opportunities for JNMs /JPOs to increase take up
  of apprenticeships and traineeships

Source DEWR, Asmind data 12 months to August
2007 Toowoomba Survey of Employers Recruitment
Experiences, September 2007
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Toowoomba Centrelink and Job Network Customer
Populations
Source Centrelink and DEWR Administrative data,
September 2007
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What can be done?

• Migration
• Look beyond the traditional sources of labour
• Parents
• People with disabilities
• Mature age workers
• Understand your workforce and respond to risks
• Take an age audit
• Develop an action plan to manage the risks of an
  ageing workforce

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Improving Workplace Flexibility

• Innovative responses some employers are making
  include
• Phased retirement
• Increasing education and training
• Increasing access to flexible working hours
• Job sharing
• Improving the work/family balance
• Providing childcare facilities
• Apprenticeships / Traineeships
• Recruiting lower skilled workers and training
  them up

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Summary

• Low unemployment and strong demand for labour
• Employers had considerable difficulty filling
  vacancies, particularly in Construction
• Recruitment difficulties in Toowoomba most often
  relate to competition for jobs
• Suitability of job seekers including those
  needing development by employers is also an issue
• Strong recruitment expectations
• These expectations will create opportunities for
  job seeker development and for the use of
  non-traditional sources of labour

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Local area activities impacting on employment

• Toowoomba Bypass
• Origin Energy Power Ltd
• Dalby Bio-Refinery
• Wetalla Waste Water Treatment Plant
• Lemon Tree Ethanol Processing Plant
• Anduramba Molybdenum Project
• Nippon Meat Packers Oakey Abattoir Expansion
• AGL Pipelines Ltd's Roma to Brisbane Natural Gas
  Pipeline
• Central Plaza
• Ergon Energy

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Possible issues for consideration

• Inform and engage employers to address turnover
  and short-term employment
• Educating employment consultants about employment
  issues faced by humanitarian entrants, such as
  language and cultural barriers
• Knowledge and awareness of job search
  requirements and expectations

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Developing a local action plan

• Focus on practical actions for each issue being
  addressed
• Identify stakeholders and linkages

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Evaluation strategy

• Workshop evaluation to be filled out today
• Follow up survey of participants to assess
  specific actions/strategies undertaken
• Longer term data analysis to assess measurable
  items and analysis of qualitative information
  relating directly to each workshop

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Finish

• Thank you
• More information
• www.workplace.gov.au/bcw
• www.workplace.gov.au/regionalreports
• www.workplace.gov.au/lmip