REVEALED: Ipswich’s industries, jobs of the future
Nearly two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, work opportunities in several Ipswich industries are on the rise. Find out what and where the jobs of the future will be.
Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
As Ipswich’s population continues to grow, and businesses expand and move into the region, some industries are thriving while others are waning.
And within the region’s emerging industries, are an increasing number of job opportunities — particularly for those willing and able to get their hands dirty.
Employment coach at the Ipswich branch of job agency Help Employment, Daniel Coleman, said most of the work presently available was labour-intensive.
In his experience, food processing and domestic cleaning were two of the region’s biggest-employing industries, as well as construction and warehousing.
Jobs in forklift driving and production were also ample, he said, while the need for health workers seemed to have diminished recently.
“Jobs in healthcare have quietened a bit now,” Mr Coleman said.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic we had so many people crying out for support workers.”
According to popular job site Seek, the industry currently seeking the most employees across Ipswich is trades and services, followed by manufacturing, transport and logistics.
Advertised positions range from groundspersons to labourers and delivery drivers to production workers, with many employers requiring an immediate start.
Manufacturing has been identified by Ipswich City Council as the region’s largest industry and accounts for $2285 million worth of exports annually.
Paired with food processing, it is Ipswich’s largest contributor to export revenue.
JBS Foods Australia’s Dinmore processing facility alone employs more than 1200 team members and processes 1700 head of cattle each day.
Based on Seek listings, JBS is looking to fill 19 Ipswich-based positions, including skilled meat workers, process workers, a business analyst, an office manager, and a maintenance planner.
In Ipswich’s transportation and logistics industry, Australia Post is a key player.
Its Redbank mail facility is the biggest mail facility in the southern hemisphere and engages about 500 employees, though the team is always growing.
Australia Post is currently taking applications for about 10 postal technical officer and freight handler workers to commence work in the Ipswich area.
There are also plenty of local jobs available in Ipswich’s healthcare and community services industry – the region’s largest employer today and likely for the foreseeable future.
According to Ipswich City Council, the industry is expected to grow by 235 per cent over the next 20 years, largely due to investment in local hospitals.
A new public hospital set to open at Springfield in late 2024 will create about 1000 new frontline health jobs once operational. More than 700 jobs will be generated in its construction.
Further investment in St Andrew’s Ipswich Private Hospital, which employs more than 650 people, will also generate job opportunities when the expansion is completed mid-2023, as well as in construction.
Administration workers, nursers, social workers, and mental health, domestic violence, disability and youth workers are already in high demand across the region.
Ipswich healthcare employers currently seeking staff include St Andrew’s, Skin Flare Solutions, Home Care Nurses, and Grange Road Medical Services.
Classy style inside and out let down by ‘agricultural’ feel
With good looks and a refined cabin, the Mazda CX-60 Azami diesel manages to impress and disappoint at the same time.
‘Green shoots’: CBA shows we’ve finally hit a turning point
The banking giant is the closest thing Australia has to a real-time measure of the economy. And big investors are now betting on an important shift coming.