A crowd of more than 200 was waiting for the doors to open at the Jobs and Skills Expo held at the Tweed Heads PCYC last week – and that was just the start of the day.
By the end, more than 1000 people had passed through the doors of the Expo, which had more than 250 jobs on display throughout the day and 50 exhibitors.
And while there were plenty of school students on the day, there were just as many older jobseekers looking, too.
Minister for Employment Participation Ms Kate Ellis, who came up to open the event, hailed the Tweed Jobs and Skills Expo as a “great success”.
“While unemployment rates in some regions have improved, there’s more work to be done in many places, including Tweed Heads and some surrounding regions of Northern New South Wales,” Ms Ellis said. “People today took advantage of more than 250 job opportunities, submitting 282 resumes to the 50 exhibitors.
“Exhibitors have told us as many as 88 job vacancies on display today may be filled from people who attended the Expo. That’s a great outcome for the whole community.”
Minister for Human Services Senator Kim Carr said the outcome was a testament to the strength of the community.
“Even with resource-rich Queensland just over the border, not everyone is enjoying the benefits of the mining boom. As a community, we need to work together to ensure everyone gets a fair go – today was a great example of this,” he said.
Federal Member for Richmond Justine Elliot praised job seekers and organisations who worked together to make the day a success.
“The Jobs and Skills Expo was a great boost for the region and a wonderful instance of local organisations working together to help people find a job,” Ms Elliot said.
“It is never too late to up-skill, re-skill or engage in the workforce and the Expo helped people in the Tweed to take the first step.”
Since October 2009, 57 Expos have been held across the country as part of the Gillard Labor Government’s $3 billion Building Australia’s Future Workforce package.
More information is available on the Jobs and Skills Expos from the website www.humanservices.gov.au/expos.
