Employment
7000 Ipswich jobs: Where they came from and how to get one
NEW EMPLOYMENT: Kloe-Jayne Thomas secured a casual job making and roasting coffee at Ipswich’s Dancing Bean Roastery.David Nielsen
WHILE almost 7000 new jobs were created during the past year, Ipswich trails other Southeast regions for annual employment growth.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Regional Employment data, 6700 more jobs were created in Ipswich when compared with 12 months ago. But the Logan-Beaudesert region leads the way, with more than 14,000 more people in work this year than at the same time last year.
Over the past 12 months Townsville recorded 8700 new jobs, Cairns 7800, Toowoomba 5400, Mackay 5400 and Gold Coast 8300.
Ipswich Mayor Andrew Antoniolli said employment growth was good for the community, but acknowledged not all areas would be basking in optimism.
“It depends on what sort of business you’re in as to the degree of positivity but certainly some business sectors are quite enthusiastic and happy with the way things are going,” he said.
“Other sectors are a little bit ambivalent or negative so certainly one of the things I would like to think is we can improve on that 6000 in 2018.”
Queensland had the highest annual employment growth rate in the nation at 4.8 per cent, followed by the Australian Capital Territory at 3.9 per cent and Victoria at 3 per cent.
State Minister for Employment Shannon Fentiman said the regional employment data was positive.
“Christmas in 2017 looks a lot brighter for families right across the state with Queensland seeing the strongest jobs growth in the country over the past 12 months and much of that jobs growth has been outside Brisbane,” she said.
For Queensland, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 5.9 per cent.
Australia’s unemployment was also steady at 5.4 per cent, while the underemployment rate dropped 0.1 points to 8.7 per cent. Ms Fentiman promised more would be done to support employment opportunities for Queenslanders next year.
“We know there are a lot of families still doing it tough after the downturn in the resources sector and we will be ramping up our efforts to support employment and training opportunities for people,” she said.
From January 1 the government will offer payments of up to $20,000 for businesses to take on mature-age workers through its Back to Work program.
Youth unemployment is also down across Queensland. The gap between regional and Southeast Queensland unemployment rates also narrowed in the past year from 2.3 points in November last year to 1.4 points in November this year.
Barista’s cup of success
WALK the streets, approach employers and show them how eager you are to be hired for a job.
Those tips come straight from new Ipswich coffee specialist, Kloe-Jayne Thomas.
This year Ms Thomas secured a job at Dancing Bean Roastery on Brisbane Street.
A personal situation saw the 25-year old return to Ipswich from Melbourne earlier this year, forcing her to look for employment.
It took about four weeks for her to find the casual job, which she hopes will eventually lead to more hours.
“There are a lot of jobs advertised that are around, it’s just about approaching them in the right way and presenting yourself in the right way I think is the hardest part,” she said.
“Don’t give up, just keep looking.”
She described the search for work in Ipswich as “pretty cruisey”.
“I spent two days a week walking around handing out resumes and I’d do a little bit online as well,” she said.
“I think face-to-face interaction is really good.
“If you’ve been in once and you really like the place go back and show your face and say, I was here last week and I want to let you know I’m still really keen – even if it’s just one day a week.”
A growing customer base and persistence by Ms Thomas meant managers of the roastery were happy to give her a casual job.
Coming from Melbourne, it is no surprise Ms Thomas can make a good coffee – but she said working at Dancing Bean Roastery had expanded her skills.
“I’ve worked in hospitality making coffee for the last seven or eight years so when I saw a local roastery here I thought it could really be a great opportunity just to learn a lot more about coffee,” she said.
Ms Thomas acknowledged the transition out of eateries to more permanent employment could be tough.
“I think hospitality skills aren’t as well recognised in other industries as I feel like they could or should be,” she said.
Originally Published: www.qt.com.au
BURGERS are in abundance, overseas companies are moving in and a mini international business influx is bringing up to 430 jobs to Ipswich in the coming months.
A second Carl’s Jr Burger is opening at West Ipswich in June with 80 jobs available, another McDonalds is opening in Springfield Lakes in June with 70 roles and Costco will need 280 people when it opens by Christmas.
Carl’s Jr Burger
AMERICAN fast food giant Carl’s Jr Burger has plans to expand their restaurant footprint even further in Ipswich.
A third restaurant is marked for a suburb outside the CBD as the company behind Carls’ Jr Burger in Australia, Bansal Group, prepare to open the second restaurant in the coming months.
The Bansal Group has been tight-lipped on the exact location but when it opens,more than 100 staff will be needed to operate the store.
That’s on top of the 100 needed for the West Ipswich site, expected to open in June following the US burger giant’s successful debut at Redbank Plains.
Applications are open now for the West Ipswich store but those interested could also be considered for the third store.
- Keen to apply?
Email carlsjr@thebansalgroup.com.au
Bansal Group general manager Shawn Kerr said there was ‘always potential in Ipswich’.
He said it would take some time for details to be confirmed with the latest in the string of restaurants expected to enter the market in a couple of years.
Mr Kerr said the third site would not be in the Ipswich CBD but in a suburb.
Carl’s Jr Burger is famous in the US for their ‘big juicy American burgers’.
McDonald’s
SEVENTY hard-working and punctual people will be sought to serve the fries and wipe the tables at McDonald’s latest store.
The Ipswich City Council this week facilitated construction of the fourth McDonald’s store in the Greater Springfield area.
The three existing franchises at Augustine Heights, Orion Springfield and Springfield Lakes, and the newest store on Parkway Drive, are owned by Lisa Mackintosh.
Construction on the future restaurant is expected to begin in June or July and finish by November.
Ms Mackintosh said she would soon be looking to hire 70 people above 14 years and nine months old.
They will be a mix of casual, part-time and full-time roles.
“Once we start building I’ll put some mesh up saying, ‘hiring now’,” she said.
Costco
IPSWICH residents will likely be shopping at the state’s newest Costco by Christmas.
Costco has revealed details for its Bundamba warehouse including plans to open before the end of 2018.
The massive site, opposite the Puma travel centre, will cover 13,750 sq m – the equivalent of two football fields – and create 280 permanent jobs.
Construction will take about eight months and create another 80 jobs.
Originally Published: www.qt.com.au
Property Council Queensland executive director Chris Mountford said property was now Queensland’s leading employment sector. Picture: Mark Calleja
THE property industry has now become Queensland’s biggest employer with more people working in the sector than any other.
New figures released by AEC Group revealed that it had now overtaken health care and social assistance as major employers.
According to the Property Council Queensland the industry created more than 331,400 jobs and was the biggest direct contributor to employment in Queensland.
The latest figures showed employment in the industry grew by 38 per cent between the 2014 and 2016 financial years.
And as well as employing the most people it also was the biggest direct contributor to Gross State Product, delivering $42.7 billion.
Property Council Queensland executive director Chris Mountford said the industry also contributed significantly to tax revenue, forking out about $11.2 billion or 53.7 per cent of the total collected.
Of this a whopping $3,050 million was through transfer and stamp duty, while $1,010 million was collected in land tax.
The data was also divided into state government electorates to reveal which generated the highest amount of gross product and jobs.
The newly named McConnel electorate, which included Brisbane City, Kelvin Grove, Teneriffe, New Farm and Fortitude Valley had a gross product of $4330.9 million and 19,899 full-time equivalent jobs.
Mr Mountford said the figures showed how important the property industry was for creating jobs.
“Some one in three Queenslanders’ wages rely on our industry directly and indirectly – that’s a huge contribution to the livelihoods of individuals and families,” Mr Mountford said.
He said the industry covered a whole range of jobs from blue collar to finance and skilled trades.
Mr Mountford said the AEC Research, analysed employment and economic activity by industry sector.
Originally Published: brisbaneinvestor.com.au
JOBS DRIVE: Blair MP Shayne Neumann said hundreds of jobs would be created in in infrastructure projects.
MORE than 2000 jobs will eventuate in Ipswich this year.
They’re available through massive road infrastructure projects, a billion-dollar RAAF build, international grocery store construction and even in small local business.
Blair MP Shayne Neumann said among the most significant jobs drive was jointly-funded highway upgrades.
Stage one of the Darra to Rocklea upgrade on the Ipswich Motorway, a three kilometre stretch, needs 470 workers to get the job done in time for the 2020 deadline.
Pre-tendering is already finished and the final design work will be finished by the middle of the year.
“During the life of the project, everything from stop and go signallers, engineers, tradesmen and women and all manner of experienced construction personnel will be needed,” Mr Neumann said. “That will offer a broad range of jobs and there will also be apprenticeships offered. It’s a really good project for job creation in the area.
“That’s not the final area, more jobs will be created when the rest of the six kilometre project is completed.” Mr Nuemann said the billion-dollar RAAF Base Amberley project supported another 1500 contracting staff.
He said the increase in staff travelling to and from the site would put increased demand on regional road infrastructure and present a strong case for the Willowbank interchange upgrade.
“We’re talking about 1500 contracting staff working on infrastructure projects through the expansion of real air capacity and the old buildings. It’s a major expansion with more platforms for Super Hornets and the like,” he said.
“The critical thing now is to upgrade the Willowbank interchange from Ebenezer to Yamanto, it is critical that happens. “We’re talking about 10 projects in the pipeline over a four-year period and you can’t build that and expect that the road infrastructure can cope.”
Mr Neumann said smaller local council projects were responsible for fostering jobs growth in sectors like hospitality and tourism.
“I am supporting Ipswich City Council’s attempt to upgrade John St in Rosewood. It is a beautiful little country town but there are lot of things that can be done to enhance it, that’s why the John St upgrade is important,” he said.
“Not only will it creat jobs but tourism and economic development in the region.
“We can’t end up in a situation where Ipswich is just a commuter city of Brisbane where the jobs aren’t local. It is critical that the jobs be created in the Ipswich region otherwise we are going to clog up the motorways and public transport and people will have the same problem as in Western Sydney.
“To prevent that we need to create jobs locally.”
Meanwhile, at Bundamba, 280 new jobs have been promised as American warehouse giant Costco lodged plans to Ipswich City Council for a 6.5ha site development.
With plans to join the international business at Walker Corporation’s $1 billion Citiswitch business park, World Gym manager Dominic Edwards has plenty of jobs on offer for fit workers.
He’s one of many small business owners in Ipswich with plans to open a new site or expand their employee list tjis year.
Jobs available right now
COMPANIES and local business are looking for staff complete their work force in 2018.
Jobs in meatworks, taxi companies and real estate agents are open to applications now and some boast attractive bonuses.
- Meatworkers
Labourers, boners, slicers and butchers are needed at the JBS plant at Dinmore.
This is a great opportunity to enter a career at the ground floor with endless opportunity and a great chance to earn good money, the ad read.
Resumes should be forwarded to EmploymentDinmore@jbssa.com.au or drop it off at the guard house.
- Taxi drivers
Positions are available for taxi drivers in Ipswich.
Full time and part time work is available with no experience necessary.
Weekend and week day courses are starting now. To book call 3281 2997.
- Real estate professional
A real estate professional is required for Lockyer, Somerset and north western Ipswich areas.
Send a CV and resume with a current real estate registration number to the principal, PO Box 7231 Redland Bay Qld 4165.
Originally Published: www.qt.com.au
