With job vacancies in the hospitality sector set to top 100,000, peak industry body, the Accommodation Association’s ongoing practical partnership with Government will greatly assist in combating the skills shortage in this core economic sector for the nation.The Accommodation Association’s partnership with the Federal Government means interested job seekers will be directed through to the lifechanging training and opportunities aligned to their interests and to the vacancies available.
Federal Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services, the Hon Luke Howarth joined Ms Margaret Kidd, the First Assistant Secretary Workforce Division, Department of Education and Employment and Leanne Harwood, President Accommodation Association and Senior Vice President & Managing Director of the InterContinental Hotel Group Australasia, Japan and Pacific as well as Accommodation Association COO Cassandra Champion to update providers on the training and support initiatives available.
The Accommodation Association has developed a platform that has a range of services and programs to set those looking to work in the sector up for success while opening up employment pathways that meet the needs of Australia’s accommodation providers. These include:
- The Hub – launching next week, this is a one-stop transformational Hospitality portal for employers, job seekers, consultants with streamlined processes, forms and tools for anyone to use so that the matching of individuals to job and career opportunities is even faster and easier. It will also provide a unified job Board for the sector.
- The Gappa – launching next week, this is a gap year experience for anyone but is targeted at young adults who are encouraged to take their gap year in their own backyard and make money doing it while working anywhere in the country for a year.
- Train2Earn – our hugely successful direct training program which provides a short, intensive 3-day immersion training with a job interview at the end. This is already tracking at a 94% employment outcome.
- Our PaTH Business Placement Partnerships programs which provide all jobseekers who complete training with a guaranteed 4 week live and practical internship in metro and regional venues nationally. These programs have an 80% employment success rate and provide the core basic skills to start a career in the sector. As part of this and in line with the sector’s commitment to creating an inclusive workforce, there are also dedicated DES programs to run in a hotel environment with a supported PaTH internship and employment support package.
Federal Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services, the Hon Luke Howarth told this afternoon’s online briefing of job providers and consultants:
“The number of available jobs in the hospitality industry is continuing to jump. It went from 84,376 to 93,395 in just 10 days, and they’re expecting it to go to over 100,000 sometime in the next week, and particularly as the southern states open after COVID-19 and we hit our vaccination rates nationally, the economy will start to open up significantly and we’re going to see a lot more jobs created there.”
“The Accommodation Association is working with our Department to bring these vacancies to job seekers. This is about ensuring we’ve got real jobs that job seekers can go into and be confident of the outcome. If anyone unemployed hasn’t considered a career in hospitality, now is the time to do so. One of the first jobs I had was at a restaurant in Brisbane. I was cooking and on the bar as an 18 year old and studying at the same time. That job gave me great customer service skills and the ability to build rapport quickly which has helped in every other job I’ve had including my current role.”
“We need employment services to be the solution and the Accommodation Association and this sector want to use employment services. They are committed to helping people get their first start which is so important because if we can build a little confidence, they’re going to go from strength to strength, hold down jobs and create their own destiny.”
Quotes attributable to Accommodation Association President Leanne Harwood
“I started from the ground up and day one was pouring beers back in Queenstown in New Zealand. This industry has given me a lifelong career where I’ve had the opportunity to live in 13 different cities around the world and to slowly but surely make my way up to Managing Director for this large international company, all without any tertiary qualifications. That’s what this industry can do for people. I’m passionate about bringing people who haven’t had opportunities into our industry and showing them that there is a way to create a future and a great career within our amazing hospitality industry.”
“The tools are all there and the team at the Accommodation Association have been working incredibly hard to make it as easy as possible to bring people into the industry. We are extremely grateful for the support from Minister Howarth, the tourism bodies, and the Department and we look forward to continuing to work together.”
Quotes attributable to Accommodation Association COO Cassandra Champion
“These initiatives are key to opening up accessible jobs to younger job seekers and to helping break the cycle of long term dependency by matching job seekers with the training, skills development and opportunities that they need to succeed and aligning them with job opportunities that will deliver for them and the venue.”
“We really want to take people on a journey. We want to help them build their confidence. We want to help them understand they are amazing individuals and match them to the amazing opportunities we have across the country in our sector.”
.jpg){kind=tracking}