Sue Brooks February 21st, 2016
JOBS. My ideas for the Fraser Coast.
We all want more jobs here on our Fraser Coast but where are these jobs going to come from? Manufacturing has pretty much been killed off by Federal Government policies regarding free trade and level playing fields etc. So if not manufacturing what can we do here?
Some thoughts..
1. POPULATION
We do need to grow our population to a critical mass of 100 – 150 thousand people. To embrace and develop a sustainable economy we must have a population base big enough to ensure service providers and retailers have access to enough customers. More customers keeps the skills and work here. Think repair people, courier services, hospitality workers etc. We will also have a better chance of beating Bundaberg to Government department offices being located here.
But Council has to be much more business friendly with sensible rates and charges and planning requirements. No policy will work without the procedures in place to enable people to easily grow and develop their businesses.
We also need to become much more food and enery efficient. Our food should be caught, (think seafood), grown, harvested and then sold here, not driven to Brisbane and back. We can become energy independent with solar and wind. Other towns have done it we can to.
2. WAREHOUSING
Research shows that in this online world warehouses are evolving and changing. And yes they do use people still not just robots. I found comments such as these….
http://www.koganpage.com/article/the-warehouse-of-the-future
“Warehouse locations on the edge of cities will be reshaped to function as hubs where cross-docking will take place for final distribution. Non-urban areas will have regional consolidation centres in which products will be cross-docked for final distribution. Final distribution to stores, pick-up points and homes in urban and non-urban areas will take place via consolidated deliveries using efficient assets.”
http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/warehousing-the-evolution-continues/
“Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are shifting more activities to the warehouse, thanks to the lower cost of doing so. Activities performed in today’s warehouse may include product configuration, finishing, packaging, labeling, ticketing, pricing, and creating shelf-ready product displays. This expansion of activities is taking place in both company-owned-and-operated facilities, as well as those operated by third parties.
The variety of activities being performed today is broad. For example, when asked what services were performed in his warehouse, one study respondent replied, “Anything the customer wants!”
Surely we are well placed with our access to rail, road and air travel to attract these businesses!
3. CALL CENTRES
Call Centres are another industry we should be attracting. We already have 3 here that I am aware of and I am employed in one. Big business realises in this competitive world that customer service is more important than ever and customers want Australian based service. Take a look at this snap shot from SEEK today.
Call Centre & Customer Service Jobs (3787)
Collections (159)
Customer Service – Call Centre (1448)
Customer Service – Customer Facing (412)
Management & Support (181)
Sales – Inbound (367)
Sales – Outbound (901)
Supervisors/Team Leaders (150)
Other (169)
Location
Sydney (1792)
Melbourne (1072)
Brisbane (357)
Perth (119)
Adelaide (11
We have the space we have the people. Let’s get more call centres based here.
4. E- CHANGE REGION
Lastly another change has been described by Demographer Bernard Salt as the E- Change. We have had the sea change and tree change and now he says it is time for the E-Change. Meaning that more and more people can work from anywhere. So what better place to bring your job to than here! Hervey Bay and the entire Fraser Coast is very well placed to become the number one E – Change destination in Australia.
Here at home we recently played host to two visitors from Germany. They had been in Australia for 12 days and were travelling up the Queensland coast to decide where they wanted to settle. You see they are migrating here and will run their German based business from here!
Stop Press. This just in from Bernard Salt via Facebook in reply to my message.
“Bernard Salt Demographer I’m surprised Hervey Bay slipped through the e change net. HB is perfect for a lifestyle shift and especially o think for middle aged and older people. Not for any other reason than the prevailing demographic of HB is older. Sell up in the city as a 50 year old and take your job to Hervey Bay or similar and telecommute. I think the reason why we didn’t identify HB is because it’s outside the 2 hour commute zone where most e change will occur. The shift applies to places further afield but in reduced numbers. Fewer people will e change to HB as to Noosa but it will still apply nevertheless wink emoticon”
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 9 mins
http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/e-change-is-the-new-sea-change-in-2016.html
So we need some clever slogans and we need to do this now. Please let me know what you think.
Sue Brooks – Candidate Division 5
9 Dundowran Beach Esplanade, Dundowran Beach 4655