workforce
Let a man handle it?
As the sector faces a growing
workforce shortfall, maybe it’s
time to see if men seeking a
second career can close the gap.
By Nik Babovic
H
ealth and aged care will be among
the biggest drivers of job creation
in Australia this century – or so we
are told.
Economists, ministers and human
resources experts have all forecast a huge
rise in the numbers employed in these
sectors and recent trends support that view.
A large number of the 300,000
Australian jobs created in 2015 came from
the health and aged-care sectors and ANZ
Bank’s economics team recently claimed
a “health jobs juggernaut” is driving
employment growth.
But continued growth, based on the
nation’s ageing population, will have to
overcome a major challenge.
Research released by online employment
agency Adzuna in 2016 found that the
number of advertised aged-care vacancies
doubled between 2014 and 2015.
Even more worrying for employers
was Adzuna’s finding that the number of
vacancies was now four times greater than
the number of people seeking work in
aged care.
Unless the industry manages to tap into a
new labour pool, recruitment will remain a
major problem.
One solution, being proposed by
Illawarra-based care provider Warrigal, is to
look overseas.
The company has announced it plans to
recruit 50 foreign workers through the 457
visa program – but the news has outraged
the Health Services Union.
With federal opposition leader Bill
Shorten recently attacking the 457 visa
program publicly and calling for its use
to be wound back, the prospects for
widespread use of these visas in the agedcare sector seem to be fast diminishing.
However, there remains another potential
pool of workers that has so far been largely
untapped – Australian men.
The possibility of encouraging men –
especially older men from industries that are
in long-term decline, such as manufacturing
– into aged care is not one that many
politicians have advocated but Denise
Blizzard, a Careers Australia educator-trainer
based on the Gold Coast, says government
agencies need to be far more proactive in
attracting men to the industry.
“A decade ago, there were almost no
men training for aged care, apart from
the occasional enrolled nurse, but today
about 25 per cent of our students are men
and that figure is rising each year,” Blizzard
recently said. “Often, older male workers
only look into aged care out of necessity
but when they realise they are in demand
and will be picked up by an employer, a
light goes on in their heads.
“As the older male population increases,
male carers are becoming increasingly
valuable. They understand the male psyche –
and especially that of very proud older men.”
Blizzard knows her call for job networks
to do more to educate jobseekers about
the aged-care sector can get results
because her team has already proved it.
Careers Australia tutors decided to visit
Masters hardware stores on the Gold Coast
to discuss careers in caring for workers
who have lost, or will soon lose, their jobs
as a result of the DIY chain’s collapse.
They have already fielded dozens of
enquiries from Masters staff and recently the
first seven recruits from the business began
Certificate III Individual Support courses. Of
those seven students, four are men.
“One man in his 50s said he thought
‘Who will ever employ me again?’ when he
lost his job at Masters,” Blizzard says. “Now
he’s so happy to be starting a new career.
All carers need are communication skills,
life skills and empathy – and there are lots
of men out there who have all of that.
“There are men who have raised children
and overcome some tough situations
in their lives. They are caring men and
have a lot to offer, and they are what the
aged-care industry needs.” ■
Nik Babovic is chief executive, vocational
training, at Careers Australia.
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