CLASPING a cardboard sign and perched on an esky, he stares plaintively at passing traffic on one of Wagga’s busiest arterials.
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The young man, dressed in a hi-vis vest, is so desperate to work he’s turned himself into a temporary billboard.
It might seem an incongruous sight in Wagga, a city that enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state.
But such is the nature of our city’s two-speed employment market.
Some industries are crying out for workers, so desperate they are being forced to draft in 457 workers from overseas.
Other industries have a labour surplus.
Much has been made of the “brain drain” afflicting regional areas, where our best and brightest young people go to university in larger cities and never return.
It has created a chronic skills shortage, especially in the Riverina’s smaller centres.
Engineering, medical, accounting and many other white-collar professionals are in short supply.
How we lure some of these professionals, without relying on overseas labour, is both complex and contentious.
Programs like Evocities have tried to spruik the benefits of regional living but with only moderate success.
Wagga certainly has a compelling case to make for tree-changers.
One of the nation’s most family-friendly cities, Wagga has the best of both worlds – large enough to have capital city services and small enough to minimise traffic and mortgage stress.
If the young professionals hogtied to million dollar mortgages in Sydney’s commuter belt were able to just get a taste of the Wagga lifestyle, many would move here in a heartbeat.
We are also lucky enough to boast a major university campus. As such, it is critical our leaders continue to push for a medical school attached to CSU.
Some lateral-thinking companies have struck upon other ideas to keep our young people in the area.
For Riverina law firm Commins Hendricks, offering opportunities for young workers to learn and earn at the same time has been invaluable. Its law clerk program is a fine example of a local business investing in its most valuable resource – people.
If other businesses being buffeted by the skills shortage followed suit, one of the Riverina’s most enduring puzzles could be solved.