Golden Age: Small business hiring new people key to bridging gap between education and employment

WHAT is the key to getting more student graduates to stay and work on the Gold Coast? We speak to some of the top industry experts to find out how to bridge the gap.

SMALL businesses hold the key to bridging the gap between education and employment on the Gold Coast, industry experts say.

Post-secondary school students make up over 12 per cent of the city’s population and international students alone contribute over $1.4 billion to the local economy each year.

But to keep the burgeoning industry growing — and profitable — student employability is critical, says Study Gold Coast CEO Shannon Willoughby.

“Internationally, every city that wants jobs and career opportunities needs to have a focus on student employability, and need to make sure the education-to-work pipeline is part of a city narrative,” Ms Willoughby said.

Study Gold Coast CEO Shannon Willoughby. Picture Glenn Hampson

“It is important for a number of reasons. Every student that studies or trains ultimately wants not just a job but a career, so it is a must if we want the skilled population to stay on the Coast.”

However, the connection is one that is made more difficult on the Gold Coast, because of the high number of small businesses.

“There are around 50,000 small businesses on the Gold Coast. That itself is a challenge for educators as they are not dealing with one large employer who can agree to take on a bulk load of graduates.”

Small businesses need to pick up more graduates. Picture: Jerad Williams

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“Research shows small businesses are less likely to want to take on someone new. As we know, it is tricky for mum and dad operators. They are time poor, sometimes in survival mode and may not even have long-term strategies, which makes it harder to connect.

“Whereas, if you look at a big business, they are internationally at the top list of graduate employers, which makes our situation unique.”

However, she said the small business landscape was warming to the supply.

“To flip it on its head the Gold Coast has a pipeline of talented staff right here on our door step,” Ms Willoughby said.

TAFE Gold Coast. Photo: Supplied

“Businesses are understanding graduates can be a huge asset, which means we will see less talent moving away.”

Study Gold Coast is working in partnership with its 54 member institutions, including Gold Coast universities, to develop career opportunities for local graduates and training businesses on how they can take advantage of the supply.

The education sector focus has already begun to have an effect, with data from SEEK indicating that job advertisements in science and technology industry on the Gold Coast have doubled in the past 12 months.

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Director of Hays Queensland Darren Buchanan said Gold Coast graduates were having a better chance of securing a career close to home.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here, Mr Buchanan says. Picture: George Salpigtidis

“It remains very active for skilled professionals. Thousands of jobs were created to help run the Commonwealth Games, but that hasn’t been the only driver of jobs activity here,” Mr Buchanan said.

“The booming construction and professional services industries are creating vacancy activity too, as is the IT and digital sector.”

The highest demand roles on the Gold Coast for professionals, range from finance managers, business analysts and commercial managers to HR experts, civil drafters, storm water modellers, project managers, concreters, truck drivers, contract administrators, receptionists, boilermakers, mechanical fitters, site managers, estimators, road and traffic engineers and modelling engineers.

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“The most active sectors for vacancy activity for skilled professionals are IT, construction and property, marketing, digital, accountancy and amp, finance and office support,” Mr Buchanan said.

“With the Fourth Industrial Revolution here and rapidly gaining ground, ongoing development opportunities will also ensure the skills of your staff stay relevant in the face of change and that’s a key point in staff retention today.”