Wanted: Staff For 740 Jobs

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday August 19, 2004

By GREG ELLIS

THOUSANDS of jobs remain vacant in Wollongong and Shellharbour because employers can't find people with suitable skills to fill them.

With massive baby boomer retirements ahead, the region faced a crisis that must be addressed before it was too late, according to Australian Industry Group (AIG) regional manager Debra Murphy.

An AIG survey of 44 Wollongong companies has revealed they have 740 positions available between now and the end of the year for the right applicants.

But that is only a snapshot. Ms Murphy said she believed there were thousands of unfilled positions available.

"The overall number would be staggering," she said.

"We should be actively doing something about this as a community because these are real jobs that are sitting there ready to go.

"If we could fill 740 jobs between now and the end of the year, what dent would that put on unemployment numbers?"

Ms Murphy feared if something wasn't done now the problem would only get worse.

Companies like Joy Mining Machinery, which had 40 vacancies on its books, were trying to address the problem, but could do only so much individually, she said.

The survey showed skill shortages existed across the board.

"There was a surprisingly high number in the degree area," Ms Murphy said.

Employers said they had trouble finding qualified people with necessary skills and often found candidates lacked employable skills or supervisory skills.

The situation had become chronic for some industries.

Illawarra Area Consultative Committee executive officer John Grace has proposed an Illawarra Skill Shortage Taskforce to develop a program to address skill shortages.

The process would involve analysing labour market data such as the Illawarra Skill Audit being conducted by the Illawarra Regional Development Board, to identify and clarify barriers to solving the problem.

Mr Grace believed the problem would only be fixed if everyone, including governments, worked together.

"Part of it also has to be getting into the schools and showing young people what some of these industries and occupations have to offer," he said.

Mr Grace said the situation started in the 1980s, fuelled by innovation, rapid technological change, industry restructures and less vocational education, once driven by BHP.

It was exacerbated by an ageing workforce and inadequate succession planning.

A forum will be held on September 2 to form a skill shortage taskforce.

? Occupational needs identified in an Australian Industry Group survey of 44 firms, showing vacant jobs and percentage of total.

Degree 76 10 per cent

Post-trade 87 12 per cent

Trade 368 50 per cent

Semi-skilled... 209 28 per cent

Total 740