This research introduces a strategy of workforce sharing to address skill shortages across industries during uncertain times . The study covers an evaluation of the workforce-sharing initiative , including the impact it has had on the business community and addresses the workforce resourcing issue . Further , challenges and learnings , as well as direction for future applications , are provided .
WORKFORCE SHARING INITIATIVE : THE PORTAL Designed with the input of businesses , companies and subject matter specialists , the workforce-sharing initiative provides a new and innovative way to do business development and manage workforce resourcing . The workforce-sharing initiative is automated and designed to connect businesses to leverage and enhance workforce resources . The platform utilises smart technology to enhance outcomes by giving businesses more relevant and optimised contract matches , reducing the likelihood of the businesses facing additional costs from mismatched recruitment practices ( Brunello & Wruuck , 2021 ). Gold Coast was the first council to apply this innovative technology in a regional economic development initiative . An important part of the initiative was to reduce barriers to businesses ; thus , the workforce-sharing initiative is free
to sign-up and source . Furthermore , the tool enables businesses of all sizes and capability to connect and engage – a key part of the economic development team ’ s strategy given the composition of the Gold Coast business community .
A key feature included the capacity to ring-fence the region to prioritise local matches and collect regionalised business behaviour on the workforcesharing initiative . This provided insights into in-demand skills / talent / shortages , understanding the business environment , and economic activity . Importantly , the insights can be used to inform appropriate economic development initiatives .
EVALUATION From inception , the initiative has been focussed on being business-centric , benefiting the business community first and foremost . There were four ( 4 ) key objectives of the economic development initiative that the City wanted to measure to determine the success of the workforcesharing strategy listed below .
1 . The opportunities the workforce-sharing initiative brought to the local business community .
2 . Growth opportunities for small and medium businesses .
3 . Balancing short-term workforce supply and demand issues .
4 . Insight into the local business community .
The workforce-sharing initiative houses a live , customisable dashboard for the City to track economic activity . Key measures include a number of registered businesses , the number of matched opportunities , the value of matched opportunities ( both within the Gold Coast and outside of the region ), and the total value of opportunities registered to the platform .
In the first 12 months of going live , the workforce-sharing initiative resulted in several business matches . The following outcomes have been achieved :
1 . 1,548 registered skill sets across 303 registered businesses . There are currently 45,790 available workers throughout all economic sub-sectors , but a shortage of 6,326 workers in specific sub-sectors . This means the Gold Coast economy has a labour force of 39,464 people that have capacity to be further utilised . It ’ s worth noting that the platform can alleviate the shortfall by redistributing 6,326 workers within the economy .
2 . The average value of contracts posted on the workforce-sharing initiative is $ 41,000 , which is much higher than anticipated ($ 10,000 ). This increases the economic benefits businesses gain from the workforce-sharing initiative .
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