The job squad: Employment experts sent to the regions

Jobs after COVID will be coming from surprising places, and a new taskforce being sent to regional Queensland will seek out those opportunities emerging and link job seekers to them. FIND OUT IF YOUR REGION WILL BENEFIT.

A FLYING squad of jobs experts will be sent to parts of regional Queensland suffering the worst unemployment in a bid to get people off welfare and back into work.

While unemployment is rising, there are regional businesses struggling to fill jobs particularly in areas like manufacturing, while JobSeeker remains inflated.

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Employment Minister Michaelia Cash will on Tuesday announce jobs taskforces will be sent to Cairns, the Gold Coast, Townsville, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast and Wivenhoe to tackle the jobless rate ranging from 7.8 per cent to 12.6 per cent in some regions.

People queue up outside a Centrelink office. “Employment Facilitators” will be deployed to regional areas to link jobless Aussies to work. Picture: William West/AFP

The “employment facilitators” will check out the conditions of the region, including demographics and local industries, before coming up with a plan tailored to that area.

It will include reaching out to local small businesses to see what jobs are needed, co-ordinating with employment agencies and government services to see what training people need to land the work.

It comes ahead of the National Accounts on Wednesday which are expected to reveal the depth of the recession has exceeded what was forecast in the July Economic and Fiscal Update.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash will announce a employment facilitator scheme for regional areas with high unemployment. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Andrew Taylor

Senator Cash said the jobs which would come out of the COVID recovery could look different to those that existed before, and the scheme would help people find those new opportunities.

“The recovery is also likely to look different across sectors and communities which is why it

is critical to provide tailored support to help Australians find work in their local regions,” she said.

“Local knowledge and collaboration will be vital to achieving this.”

She said the facilitators would also create a “local jobs plan” for that region, identifying priorities, opportunities and skills gaps.

These could then be used to put job seekers in contact with training suited to emerging employment industries.

The Local Jobs Program will run until 30 June 2022.