Jobs aplenty for skilled workers

Redundant workers are walking straight into new jobs because of the unprecedented demand for skilled workers, recruiters say.

Workers who have experience in niche industries and proven employment track records are being snapped up by companies.

They include eight staff made redundant at Adelaide company NuKorc, which was placed in administration early last month. They all found new jobs in as little as two weeks.

Global recruitment consultancy Robert Walters reports there is a huge shortage of talent to meet demand.

Founder Robert Walters, in Adelaide this week, said employers wanted to hire the best staff and many employees were seeking greener pastures.

“In bad times (workers) don’t do anything about it, but in good times, there’s a rush to catch up,” he said.

“Employers don’t want to miss out on employees and employees also don’t want to miss out.”

Job service provider Jobs Statewide reports skilled workers ready to hit the ground running have very strong prospects in South Australia. Chief executive Wendy Jayne-Williams said it was important for redundant workers to get back into the market quickly and not take a break.

The longer they were out of the employment market, the harder it was to find work.

“Maintaining skills and taking advantage of new training opportunities will increase the chances of finding new work quickly,” she said.

“While competition for skills is still very strong, employees should continue to build their capacity to keep themselves ahead of other candidates.”

She said companies who planned to make workers redundant should contact job service providers to help staff get new jobs quickly.

Poly Products human resources officer Lis Ammerlaan said staff vacancies recently had been filled by three workers made redundant by NuKorc.

“They fitted the roles, they already had skills that we were looking for, which made it easy for us,” she said.

Poly extrusion assistant Kym Lunnay, 44, found suddenly facing the loss of a pay cheque difficult.

He had been confident of getting another job but had not expected to it to happen so quickly.

“There’s definitely work to be found if you get out and look for it,” he said.