ONE of the region’s biggest employment firms is urging employers to “think laterally” amid a current skills crisis.
Off the back of Covid lockdowns and influenza waves, workplaces throughout the city are facing an uphill battle finding enough people to fill job vacancies.
As the region battles a third wave of Omicron, a resurgence of influenza and a rise in cost of living, a steel manufacturer has turned to overseas hiring to stay alive, while two McDonalds stores in the Logan area need at least 50 extra staff members.
“We are seeing a job market that favours people seeking employment,” an employer partnership manager at Max Employment said.
“The number of vacant positions far outweighs those looking for work, and as a result of this we are seeing many job seekers exploring their options.”
Caroline Ting, who is a Licensee for McDonalds in Loganholme and at Hyperdome Shopping Centre, says she is experiencing a “manpower shortage” in all customer service roles.
“We are looking for about 50 staff members between the two stores,” she said.
“Mostly casuals, but we have got part time and full time positions as well.
“We are more looking to fill the days and the overnights, so they have to be older. They are usually 18 plus but my oldest is 64.
“As long as they’re willing to work, they have engagement, initiative and reliability– that’s all fine, they don’t have to have experience.”
Ms Ting said recent Covid-19 and influenza waves had made it difficult to manage staff.
“It’s just been hard managing because people have been sick. Since Covid, that was two weeks off and it was close contact, so it’s been ongoing,” she said.
“It’s also people retention, we have attractive packages and incentives for people to work for us; we focus on training, we have very flexible hours, and other perks.”
According to an Australian Chambers of Commerce Position Paper, Covid-19 lockdowns have caused significant labour dislocation across the country, particularly for casuals.
The MAX Employment manager said front of house positions across both the retail and hospitality sectors are currently in the highest demand. However, jobseekers are “gravitating towards other careers that offer more financial stability”.
Beenleigh Steel Fabrication co-owner Frank Boyes said he was seeing similar trends in the manufacturing sector across the board and is finding it difficult to fill full-time positions in Logan.
“It’s from labourers to boilermakers, to welders, to supervisors to draftsmen to site engineers to project managers, truck drivers, fitters, it just goes on and on,” he said.
“We take on contracts, and they’re fairly major contracts throughout Queensland and Australia, and we’ve got time limits. And when you can’t get people in, it makes it very hard to fulfil your contract, it makes you a bit nervous about taking on more work.”
To help remedy this, Mr Boyes has turned to hiring overseas workers.
“We’ve got six Filipinos, who are now full time on our books, and we’ve got 11 Sri Lankans and they’ll be here in the next week or two.
Mr Boyes says the company has about 20 vacancies which include apprenticeships and traineeships.
MAX Employment has stressed the need for employers to “throw away the old school concept of just looking at someone’s resume” in today’s climate.
“Many businesses we work with have employed job candidates through job trials or walk throughs. This helps both the candidate and the employer know if the job and the individual are the right fit.
“Transport is a key barrier within the Logan region for both employees needing to travel and employers looking to fill roles. There is no quick fix to developing public transport infrastructure, so employers may need to think laterally about overcoming this challenge.
“For example, one employer we have spoken with has encouraged offering a pickup service for employees.”
