Australia is experiencing an employment crisis with more jobs available than candidates. This was recently confirmed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Indicative of just how critical the issue is, the Federal Government recently hosted a summit for the purpose of attracting and engaging more workers. Outcomes of the Summit included funding trade apprenticeships, increasing the migrant intake, and allowing pensioners to work more hours without losing their entitlements. All valuable objectives.
One group deserving more attention are mid-career executives. According to Workers to Hire founder, Michael Hargreaves, a feature of corporate employment has been the need to cement one’s career roots by the age of thirty, only to be booted out at the age of forty if you’re not destined for the C-suite. This was at a time when educated candidates outnumbered jobs. Employers validated this stance by the want to bring new ways of doing things into the organisation.
Step forward a quarter of a century to where we are now and the employment landscape has changed. Many older workers have found it difficult to get a foot back on the career ladder, while younger workers struggle to get their first step on the ladder. Experienced workers have valuable skills that they can offer, especially to smaller businesses. They can also provide valuable mentoring to a younger workforce. Neither group has allegiance to the old ways of finding a job.
An employment system unprepared for today’s labour shortages while abandoning older skilled workers led founder Michael Hargreaves to turn the traditional model of job-seeking on its head. “Rather than apply for rejection letters, candidates can now self-promote to employers on the newly launched workerstohire.com.au website.”
Candidates can also apply directly to employers who place advertisements at a fraction of the cost of the established job websites. This should be a big bonus for small and medium size businesses whose employment needs don’t fit expensive recruitment agency models and online career oriented job websites.
The first step to solving Australia’s employment crisis is to make it easier and more affordable for employers to locate suitable workers. This is what the Workers to Hire website does.
The Workers to Hire website finds a significant niche, There are already websites for people to advertise their availability for hourly skilled based work in what is often termed the ‘gig economy.’ Not all skilled blue- and white-collar workers want to be self-employed. Many will be happy to find continuing employment for half-a-day through to a full week. Skilled workers seeking non-career roles are unlikely to be found on LinkedIn. For them, Workers to Hire is also an alternative to registering with a temp labour-hire agency.
Workers to Hire is a boon for workers seeking continuing part-time work to meet cost of living expenses. Many retiring baby-boomers will remember their parents going just that. The same baby-boomer generation now have an opportunity to fund 6-to-12 month treechanges by taking much needed skills into regional areas. Younger workers with online skills can also make this change to take advantage of lower housing prices.
The shortage of workers is forcing employers to think of things differently. Workers to Hire offer a more immediate solution to businesses looking for workers than what was proposed at the recent job summit. What’s more, Workers to Hire is a more cost-effective alternative to traditional advertising in a tight labour market for smaller-to-medium sized businesses. In Australian small and medium sized businesses employ around two-thirds of the workforce.
Michael Hargreaves is also the author of Principals, Producers, & Planners. https://www.amazon.com.au/Principals-Producers-Planners-live-well/dp/B09FS9S7FW