State Government launches job finder portal to Queenslanders with employers

People who have lost their jobs in the COVID-19 crisis will be matched to new roles on a government-launched “Job Finder” portal amid fears 272,000 Queenslanders will be out of work by June 30. FULL LIST OF FREE ONLINE COURSES SO YOU CAN UPSKILL

PEOPLE who have lost their jobs in the COVID-19 crisis will be matched to new roles on a new government-launched “Job Finder” portal amid fears 272,000 Queenslanders will be out of work by June 30.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad announced the “first major element” of the Palaszczuk Government’s worker’s assistance package, which would record the names, skill sets and resumes of out-of-work Queenslanders to be matched to advertised placements.

Recruiters will be paid $350 for each jobseeker they successfully place, paid after that person completes 40 hours of work.

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The Courier-Mail understands as many as 272,000 Queenslanders will be on the dole queue by June 30 - with a state unemployment rate of around 10 per cent.

That would equate to around 117,000 losing their jobs over the three-and-a-half months since mass COVID-19 restrictions came into place in late March.

The figures come as the Government tries to reskill workers to service the changing economy.

Small Business and Training Minister Shannon Fentiman said those who record themselves at Jobsfinder.qld.gov.au will be able to undertake free, online TAFE courses in areas where there is high demand for workers, like in aged and disability care, mental health care, in transport and farm work.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad says “tens of thousands” of Queenslanders have lost their jobs. Picture: Annette Dew

Free online TAFE courses would also help people’s online literacy to allow them to work from home in the future.

“This is something Queenslanders can do from home easily and it is the skills that industry need right now to keep our state running and to provide those much-needed service,” Ms Fentiman said.

“It’s all about making sure Queenslanders can weather this COVID-19 crisis and come out stronger and more resilient after the crisis has passed.”

She said there was job growth in sectors like cleaning, public sanitation, supermarkets and agriculture.

It came as the latest unemployment data showed Queensland’s unemployment rate relatively stable at 5.7 per cent in March.

However, the data measured is for the first two weeks of the month, cutting off right before national restrictions around mass gatherings came into place, and before tens of thousands of people started losing their jobs.

Ms Trad said clearly “tens of thousands” of Queenslanders had lost their jobs, but she couldn’t yet put a clear figure on how many.

“Flight Centre let go of thousands of workers, we know that RM Williams shut their operations, Myer closed down stores for a month affecting 10,000 workers,” she said.

“So these are the numbers but we know that behind each and every single number is a Queenslander, is a person, is a family with bills to pay.

“And that is why it is so important that we all pull together at this time, that we make sure there are jobs people can go into, that there is an income for families and that when we do open up the economy again, we open up with more skilled workers we need for the bounce back.”

But it has not all been bad news for some Queensland businesses.

A Sunshine Coast cheese delivery service has seen a massive surge in new business as isolated Queenslanders have inundated it with orders.

Cheese Therapy has hired eight additional staff – and it is looking to double that.

“We’ve been inundated with orders, we are now doing more than a month’s revenue every day,” Cheese Therapy founder Sam Penny said.

“The first 10 days of April saw the same revenue as all of 2019.”

Cheese Therapy Owners Sam Penny and Helen Shadforth. Picture: Lachie Millard

Mr Penny hopes they can continue to build on their recent success, expanding to online cheese tastings and lifestreams with Australian cheese makers for their 20 thousand strong online community.

“We know we’re a lifeline (for producers) and I’m blown away by the way our customers have rallied and are directly supporting Australian producers,’’ he said.

“We want our to use the growth to give back to those suppliers and help bring more jobs to the table” Mr. Penny said.

BOOST YOUR SKILLS - THE LIST OF FREE ONLINE COURSES

■ Community care

■ Customer engagement

■ Farm labourer

■ Food service

■ Health support

■ Medication assistance

■ Mental Health

■ Peer Work

■ Mentoring and Supervision

■ Transport (Driver)

■ Digital Literacy Essentials

■ Cyber Security Essentials

■ Communication Technologies for Business Success

■ Digital Data Essentials

■ Data Security Essentials

■ Data Analysis Essentials

INFORMATION: jobsfinder.qld.gov.au