ORANA BOASTS REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

14 June 2019

Business is booming in
the Orana, with a new report revealing a rapid level of growth in regional
employment.

The Australian Jobs
2019 report, released by the Federal Government’s Department of Jobs and Small
Business, shows that the Orana and Far West had the second highest growth rate
in the state behind the Mid North Coast region.

RDA Orana chairman
John Walkom was pleased to see the exceptional growth rate of employment in the
region.

“At 15.4 per cent, the Orana had the second
highest growth in employment in NSW in the past five years,” he said.

“Only the Mid North
Coast was higher, at 16.9 per cent with Greater Sydney (13.5 per cent) behind
both Dubbo and Illawarra (13.8 per cent).

The data also shows
that 43 per cent of the workforce in Orana had not received any post-secondary
qualifications.

“Sydney has the most
highly educated workforce in the state, with 71 per cent holding post-school
qualifications. But as the data shows, this does not equate to employability,”
Mr Walkom said.

“What is clear is that
there are fantastic job and career opportunities in the regions , in the past
month alone over 340 positions have been advertised in the Orana with majority
in the Health and Mining sectors.

In total, there are
more than four million employees in NSW, with health care and social assistance
shown as the highest industry employer, followed by professional, scientific
and technical services.

Employment growth across the state is above the national average, with the largest rises in professional services and construction.

“The level of
investment in the Orana region has aided employment growth and is visible
across other sectors,” Mr Walkom said.

“This has enabled a
very healthy economy and strong belief in the future viability and success of
the region.”