In Rural Areas, where finding staff is a challenge, employers must get creative.
With a limited talent pool, competition for skilled workers is fierce. Plus being in the middle of nowhere scares off potential hires, making recruitment and retention a headache. And lets not forget the rollercoaster ride of seasonal industries.
Imagine this: demand sky rockets when tourists flood in or crops need harvesting, but then it nosedives when the season is over. This back and forth wreaks havoc on traditional staffing strategies. During peak times, businesses scramble to find enough skilled hands, risking service hiccups. But come the off-season they are stuck with a surplus of staff, bleeding money.
Enter the Multi-employer agreement.
The multi-employer agreement between the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and nine air-conditioning manufacturers involves sharing a labor pool during peak periods, potentially expanding to other industries. This aims to secure jobs by offering extra work to permanent employees from other companies. The deal prioritises existing workers for short-term needs, providing them with higher-paying jobs and benefits such as annual pay rises, casual conversion after three months, higher apprentice wages, and a skills development program.
It is a potential game changer. Not only does it allow businesses to share employees during peak and low periods to prevent skill shortages and wastage, but it more importantly represents an ever-growing push for flexible, forward thinking solutions that benefit businesses, employees and customers simultaneously.
It is the first of its kind in Australia, and certainly won’t be the last. Wrkr is increasingly seeing evidence of businesses that are recognising the value of collaboration and flexible thinking in addressing unique challenges, in this case staffing challenges. We were able to assist with a similar but still unique challenge when we teamed up with The Scaffidi Group. Their complex needs across multiple stores highlighted the messiness of workforce management when needing employees to be able to work across multiple different stores.
The Future is Flexible
Both the discussed multi-employer agreement and our collaboration with The Scaffidi Group emphasise the importance of pooling resources and talent to optimise workforce management. More importantly it emphasises the significance of adapting to changing workforce dynamics and the benefits of embracing innovative solutions to drive efficiency and productivity. Our focus on addressing these needs stems from the recognition that flexibility in workforce management isn’t just a short trend—it’s becoming increasingly vital as businesses evolve. Traditional approaches, where businesses adjust their operations to fit existing software, are fading. The future lies in comprehensive, adaptable software that anticipates and meets every aspect of a business’s needs.
By tailoring our solution to fit their specific needs, we smoothed out their wrinkles, as CFO Nathan can attest:
”The value that Wrkr has brought to The Scaffidi Group has been on a number of different levels. It has improved the efficiencies we have internally, it provided a professional image and has helped mitigate risk........The experience with Wrkr has been one of open communication and great collaboration, helping us develop a platform which aligned our business model and enabled us to have what we believe is a leading technology in Australia.
Nathan EllulCFO at The Scaffidi Group
Click here to listen to more about the collaboration between The Scaffidi Group and Wrkr
Wrkr’s Commitment
This dedication to forward thinking solutions and staying ahead of the curve is what makes Wrkr tick. We understand that the landscape of business management is ever-changing, and we’re committed to pioneering solutions that not only keep pace but lead the way into a more agile and responsive future.
