Registered Nurses remain the most in-demand profession in the latest job vacancy figures, with aged and disabled carers the third most in-demand.
The National Skills Commission’s skills priority list, released yesterday, shows the number of occupations in shortage rose from 153 to 286 over the past year. A search on job website Seek yesterday found 31,130 aged care jobs available, with 14,629 aged care jobs advertised on Indeed.
The Federal Government’s hope of attracting foreign Registered Nurses is facing huge problems, with Germany offering free travel expenses, language classes, a bonus for passing bridging exams, and help finding accommodation.
Singapore is also in talks about recruiting nurses from the Philippines, while the UAE has signed an accord with India offering “golden visas”, which allow workers to live in the Gulf nation for 10 years without a sponsor.
The skills priority report added that the number of jobs advertised in Australia reached 301,100 in August, a 37.7 per cent increase from the same month the previous year.
Federal Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor will meet his state counterparts in Melbourne today to try to finalise a potential five-year funding agreement totalling $3.7 billion; the previous Morrison Government had been unable to reach an accord with the states over how the money should be spent.
The $1.1 billion agreement from last month’s Jobs and Skills Summit will likely also be on the table to fund 180,000 extra fee-free TAFE places, and the Government has indicated it will encourage the states to use these places to entice more men into aged care.
BaptistCare, like providers across the nation, has vacancies across the board, particularly in carer roles, kitchen staff, and Registered Nurses.
“Since August, we have been conducting Aged Care Careers information sessions across the state. We have recently held events in Gosford, Newcastle, and Forster and are holding events in Wyee and Alstonville later this month,” a spokesperson said.
“We have found these work well to talk to people who may not have a background in the sector but would like to know more about what it’s like to work in aged care.”
The next information days are being held in the NSW Northern Rivers region – in Casino on 12 October and in Grafton the next day.
