Shakira Jones and Candice Fennnell from One Forty One attended the showcase.(ABC South East SA: Jack DEvans)
Mount Gambier has held itsfirst jobs and skills showcase at City Hall, in an effort to help tackle skills shortages plaguing the region.
The Workforce Australia event was attended by 30employersfrom a range ofindustries,including forestry, manufacturing, hospitality, military, tourism, retail, education and healthcare— with 326 people registering to attend.
Caitlin Kennedy, Workforce Australia's employment facilitator support officer for the Limestone Coast, said the showcase was focused on those looking for work or for a career change.
We would really love to see some employment outcomes for our local employers, she said.
The percentage of people without work is actually quite low — so it's great to get people who are looking for work into a room and get them chatting to employers about the current vacancies available to them.
Ultimately, it's a great chance for the employers to network with each other.
The Millicent mill has been in production since the 1960'.(ABC South East SA: Grace Whiteside)
Many mill operators approaching retirement
One of the employers at the event was Kelly Thompsell, an operations team manager with manufacturerKimberly-Clark.
Ms Thompsell told the ABC thecorporation's mill was experiencing worker shortages, with a number of factors to blame.
The demand for products in the last few years has been very high, so we are at maximum capacity and we've got a lot of production requirements, she said.
Combined with that, we've been here so longthat we've got a lot of operators that are approaching their retirement and we will need to replace them.
We're also taking advantage of things like job share, where two operators can actually combine to do the one job — which again, increases our requirement for more operators.
She said the mill currently hada number of job opportunities available.
We have secretarial positions, engineering positions, andmost importantly, operational positions, she said.
So we want to give people the opportunity to come and have a chat.
HomecarePlus south eastdirector Krystine Howard said the care industry was also facing staff shortages, but things were beginning to improve.
The number of participants joining the NDIS makes the requirements greater, so the field's growth is never ending, she said.
Ms Howard said HomecarePlus had partnered with the Department of Education, on a program providing 60 traineeships around South Australia —with 15 to 20 places onthe Limestone Coast.
Education and training enrolments strong
Representatives from theeducation and training sector also attended the showcase.
TAFE SA south east region managerAlly Skeer said enrolmentswerestrongthroughout COVID — and event more enrolments were expected in 2023.
The government is looking to create nearly half a million TAFE places, including in services sectors beyond the traditional trades often associated with vocational education.(ABC News: Elicia Kennedy)
We've got school students that are participating in flexible industry pathway programs, which places them in really good stead to get a job straightaway when they finish school, she said.
All of the sectors arescreaming out for workers and they need the skills to support that …so that's where TAFE can help.
Ms Skeer said TAFE also helpedpeople in the workforce who wanteda career change or to upskill.
She said having a local TAFE campus wasvital forkeeping skilled workers in the regions.
They're not having that extra expense of having to rent …and they can stay with their family that little bit longer, she said.
It brings that skills and knowledge back into the community, which is really important as we try to grow our local Limestone Coast.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-02/mount-gambier-employers-tackle-job-shortages-at-skills-expo/101606100
