SURVIVAL IN TODAYS JOB MARKET

The job market has changed massively. We used to be in a candidate short market, i.e not many people looking for jobs, with such a small rate of unemployment. This is no longer the case. There are now more people looking for work than there are jobs, so value your job if you’re lucky enough to have one.

If you are looking for a job be prepared to start at the bottom to get an opportunity and then work your way up, companies are always looking for keen staff that are willing to learn and work hard. 

In Queenstown opportunities in tourism and hospitality will be very slim awhile. If you have been working in this area you may need to think about shifting sideways or using the skills you have in other areas, i.e if you can drive a bus, would you consider driving a truck? If you are in a face to face customer service/sales role before lockdown, have you thought about doing phone sales or customer service via a phone helpdesk.

There may be chances to re-train or up-skill via the assistance that the government and the local council are looking to help out with, i.e short courses to do things such as traffic control, construction foundation based training courses such as Site Safe, Construct Safe, etc so you can work on building sites.

Look at completing other short courses around driving endorsements, these are all useful skills that might bump you up a few places in a list of people looking for work.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of the town that we all currently call home, jobs will be hard to come by in all sectors. Some people may have to relocate to another region for a period of time, such as Dunedin, which has opportunities coming up in construction due to the new hospital build and other key projects. Bigger centers such as Auckland and Wellington will have more opportunities available.

For business owners have you thought about what other skills your team have and how you might be able to subcontract them into other roles for fixed-term contracts, or a certain project so they stay connected to you but they are doing other work for the short term. Then when your business starts to get back online you can take them back!

Can you up-skill your staff through free online courses such as the SIT that will then enable them to work in other industries for now and gain valuable tools for when you need them again.

Everyone needs to think outside the box and what makes them stand out from the crowd when people start to hire new people again. They will be looking for the best people, the ones that are willing to learn and can adapt to new environments while embracing and learning new skills.

If you need assistance in any of the above areas, please contact our local team. 

Remarkable Labour was born in Queenstown and we intend in helping our local community out in any way we can.

Stay safe.

Paddy O'Regan
Operations Manager
Remarkable Labour
26 Shotover Street, Queenstown