atWork Australia recently made a milestone appointment in its role as the Australian Government’s jobactive provider. A 24-year-old Wanneroo resident is the happy recipient of the atWork Australia’s 6,000th jobseeker title and has paved the way for other jobseekers.
Hayden Dutch, was unemployed for eight months before starting a Work for the Dole program at Soft Landing, a non-profit mattress recycling social enterprise. Hayden was placed in the program in 2016 by atWork Australia’s Wanneroo office, one of 13 branches in Western Australia.
After completing just 6 weeks in the program Soft Landing Manager Evan Cocks offered Hayden a casual position, which has since increased to full-time hours, and has opened the door for more jobseekers to join Soft Landing’s team.
“atWork Australia helped us find someone who can pick up a few good skills and is dedicated and committed to get back into work and that’s one of the many reasons we run the Work for the Dole program,” Mr Cocks said.
“Soft Landing plans to start a new Work for the Dole project with atWork Australia in 2017 as it was so successful. atWork Australia has been a good source of securing experienced and competent jobseekers for our practical warehouse environment,” Mr Cocks said.
atWork Australia Divisional Manager Michael Kolomyjec said the milestone appointment highlights the success of atWork Australia placing job ready candidates into employment and clearly indicates the Work for the Dole program leads to employment.
“We are hugely proud to be able to deliver the jobactive programme and guide jobseekers towards meaningful and sustainable employment. Success stories like Hayden, overcoming long term unemployment, highlight what an important role employment plays in someone’s life,” Mr Kolomyjec said.
“Our proven employer-led approach is geared towards quality outcomes for employers, but our experience also shows that this approach gives people with disadvantage the best hope of finding the right job. The high number of placements demonstrates atWork Australia’s ability to achieve success in a competitive employment industry,” Mr Kolomyjec said.
“Since being awarded the jobactive contract 15 months ago atWork Australia has transformed the lives of more than 6,000 people. The high number of Australians we have placed into jobs, in such a short time, demonstrates the success of atWork Australia’s programs,” Mr Kolomyjec said. jobactive is the Australian Government’s way of connecting jobseekers with employers to find the right fit.
Soft Landing is a nationwide recycling social enterprise and part of Resource Recovery Australia.
“Our motto is waste to wages. Its concept is to give people who are experiencing disadvantage the opportunity to create their own economic and social livelihoods within the waste industry,” said Mr Cocks who manages trainees, jobactive participants and staff to support the recycling business that aims to divert waste from landfill.