MP for Corio, Richard Marles, was one of the participants along with representatives from the local schools and businesses of the Northern Geelong region.
The key topic of discussion involved connecting the schools, relevant programs and businesses in the local area to work collaboratively to ensure kids have the necessary job ready skills to enter such work places.
Contrary to the perception of a lack of jobs, there is a large amount of vacancies across the manufacturing businesses in the area which was also a point of discussion during the meeting.
Human Resources Manager, Helen Craven said Air Radiators was one of the businesses in the area with an aging workforce who struggle to see genuine, young applicants for the available job vacancies.
“It was great to have the opportunity for industry to promote manufacturing roles and to talk to the local school representatives about partnership opportunities for the local kids and their career pathways,” she said.
This meeting came after Mr Marles previously visited the Air Radiators site and was made aware of the issues the Geelong industrial businesses face in terms of youth employment.
“There are jobs here, we just need to overcome the barriers to entry,” Mr Marles said.
To support gaining young employees, Air Radiators currently engage with local community initiatives including Northern Futures and educational bodies such as Deakin University.
