Summit aims to equip employers to build regional workforce

One of Australia’s leading demographers and social commentators will join the nation’s most influential recruitment expert at a summit in Dubbo this month aimed at supporting the region’s employers and building their skills in attracting and retaining staff.

Bernard Salt of The Demographics Group will be keynote speaker at the Orana @ Work Employer Summit hosted by Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana
at the Dubbo RSL Club on Tuesday, May 22.

He will be joined by Greg Savage of The Savage Table, who was voted as the nation’s most influential person in the Australian recruitment industry
in the past 60 years in 2015 and named The Most Influential Business Voice on Twitter in Australia in 2016.

RDA Orana Executive Officer Megan Dixon said the forum aimed to support the many employers across the region who were struggling to recruit and retain
staff.

“With more than $6 billion of exciting development projects announced or underway across the region, the demand for skills and labour is very high
right now and employers are under a lot of pressure,” Mrs Dixon said.

“Our aim in developing this forum is to support employers in minimising and avoiding risk and teaching them how to implement strategic, practical solutions
that will enhance the workplace and strengthen their workforce.”

A 2017 survey of 190 businesses and organisations undertaken by RDA Orana across the region found that the demand for labour is high and that many
businesses are reverting to word-of-mouth recruitment strategies to save time and avoid the disappointment of unsuccessful advertising.

“While we are still finalising the report’s findings, it is clear that we need to do more to support the needs of employers and to help them attract
apprentices and trainees to fill some of the gaps across the region.

“Bringing Bernard Salt to Dubbo will also give us a chance to reflect on the issues of family drift and the role of migration in supporting regional
Australia, as well as considering what the workforce of the future might look like.

“Greg Savage will then work with the audience to define what successful recruitment and retention strategies could look like for the Orana region.”

Tickets to the forum start at $110 per person and can be booked online at https://rdaorana.worldsecuresystems.com/orana-work-employer-summit/ENDS