Signature Staff launches in Townsville to help businesses recruit

Hearing about Townsville’s struggles to find workers, a veteran Cairns recruiter has set up a local office and put her massive database to work. See which jobs are in demand.

Business Development Manager Vanessa McKinnon at Signature Staff's new Townsville office. Picture: Evan Morgan

With her database of over 90,000 candidates, recruitment veteran Vlasta Eriksson has arrived in Townsville armed with options to help local employers struggling to recruit staff.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, unemployment in the Townsville City Council region was 2 per cent in the March quarter, well down on the averages for Regional Queensland, statewide, and national, which sit just below 4 per cent.

Ms Eriksson launched her company Signature Staff in Cairns 25 years ago, providing permanent recruitment, labour hire and short-term contracts nationwide, with a focus on Far North Queensland.

Recognising Townsville’s bright future, a pipeline of major projects and large employers looking to establish themselves, she expanded her business with an office at 62 Pugh St, Aitkenvale, which opened in October.

“Finding staff that not only have the skills and experience but fit into your culture and uphold your values, are difficult to find,” Ms Eriksson said.

Signature Staff founder Vlasta Eriksson has expanded her recruitment and labour hire business into Townsville. Picture: Catherine Coombs.

“What we’re hearing from Townsville is that they are all experiencing difficulty finding the right skilled and experienced workforce.”

She blamed a pandemic-driven exodus of workers from certain industries, migration restrictions and costs, not enough skilled labour, and a lack of participation due to ‘welfare reliance’.

Finding experienced and highly-skilled professionals was “very hard”, especially in the trades, where boilermakers, electricians, and mechanics were difficult roles to fill.

“We work with a wide range of enterprises, from fledgling start-ups to global corporations, with a particular emphasis on providing support to small and medium-sized businesses in their workforce acquisition and management endeavours,” she said.

Business Development Manager Vanessa McKinnon at Signature Staff's new Townsville office. Picture: Evan Morgan

“With over 90,000 candidates on our database, and the right systems and processes, it is easy for us to source the right people for your business.”

To help improve the availability of skilled workers, Ms Eriksson called for the government to make it more affordable to recruit from overseas, with employers being charged almost $20,000 per worker VISA.

“I think we need to entice our youth to take on traineeships or an apprenticeship from Year 10 onwards. I think that would help,” she said.

“The whole employment sector, and how it’s (government) funded, I think that needs to be really looked at … I think it’s definitely not working.”

Originally published as Signature Staff launches in Townsville to help businesses recruit