An Ai Group roundtable to address the skills shortage crisis in Queensland has already sparked action — matching those in desperate need of employees with those who can provide.
Among those who attended the recent online event, organised by Ai Group Head of Queensland Rebecca Andrews, were Tammy Anderson, who needs to fill community services positions, and Kelly Taylor, who has refugees and migrants on the books ready, willing and able.
“I have a skill shortage at the front line,” said Ms Anderson, General Manager - People, Safety & Culture, Crux Management Services, which — among many things — provides disability and child protection services in Queensland.
“A lot of the people at this roundtable were looking for skilled labour, but I don't necessarily need engineers and highly qualified professionals,” she said.
“Regional Opportunities Australia (ROA) were on the call and explained they have refugee communities in Sydney undertaking community sector study and already working as support workers.
“However, they have no gateway to permanent residency because they're not necessarily considered ‘skilled’ in the current immigration system. They need sponsorship to get that ball rolling which is something we may be able to provide.
“A huge benefit for us is that we could potentially realise a three-year commitment from that employee, which would impact positively on our workforce planning agenda.”
ROA is a not-for-profit organisation that helps migrants and refugees move from cities to welcoming regional communities and connects them to employment and business opportunities.
Ms Anderson attended the Ai Group roundtable thinking there might be potential to tap into the pool of “trailing spouses” of skilled professionals, so she was overjoyed to learn about ROA’s refugee community sector workers in Sydney willing to relocate to regional Queensland.
“It could potentially create a whole labour stream coming into the organisation,” she added.
Ms Anderson has since connected with ROA to pursue this avenue, meeting with 10 qualified refugees in an online Q&A to learn about their needs and situations.
Onboarding is already taking place for a position in Atherton, Cairns — but much work is needed to be done to bring the project to fruition.
“I'm in the due diligence phase; we're getting our ducks in a row,” Ms Anderson said.
“I’m mapping a project plan to roll this out and hope to kick it off as soon as practical.”
It’s an outcome Kelly Taylor couldn’t be happier about.
Ms Taylor is QLD State Director of HOST International, of which ROA is a subsidiary.
“Migrants and refugees have so much to offer Australia, in an economic and social sense,” she said.
“At the same time, there is a huge demand across specific skills areas and a real struggle to find people to recruit which means employers are starting to tap into possible candidate fields where they haven’t gone before, in terms of the diversity space.”
ROA’s solution is to help qualified refugees and migrants break through barriers to employment and facilitate a positive transition to the employer.
“There are often issues with overseas qualifications and skills being recognised; that’s the first major hurdle,” Ms Kelly said.
“There are certain standards that are required by industries to re-enter that profession or industry. That’s not to say it can’t be worked through, but it’s a long, arduous process.
“Not only that, but many employers don’t know how to tap in directly to those communities. Traditional recruitment methods are still being widely used, but now, because of such a skills shortage and a huge demand that is affecting productivity, they’re having to think of different and creative ways of tapping into new talent.”
Ms Kelly said the Meet the Talent online event with Crux Management Services — and another with the Endeavour Foundation — was a success.
“We brought the participants online to talk directly with the employers so they could find out about the various roles on offer and ask about the regions they might go to,” she said.
“It was an opportunity for employers and talent to meet each other and follow a recruitment process from there to enable a job to be successfully filled.”
Ms Taylor praised Ai Group Head of Queensland Rebecca Andrews for facilitating the roundtable.
“Ai Group enabled that opportunity for a group of employers to come together in an effective way by coordinating and facilitating that discussion so that employers could look at solutions and we, as an NGO, could bring a solution to the table," she said.
“Ai Group is a conduit of bringing needs and solutions together.”
Wendy Larter is Communications Manager at the Australian Industry Group. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a reporter, features writer, contributor and sub-editor for newspapers and magazines including The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and Metro, the News of the World, The Times and Elle in the UK.
