GWG Recruitment recently launched Nextwave, a new community initiative to connect local displaced workers with new job opportunities.
As part of this program, GWG is supporting some of the region’s largest employers in hospitality, tourism and services including Wests Group, Belmont 16’s and Lake Macquarie City Council to help their recently displaced workers find new employment.
At the same time, the company is working with organisations in health, non-profit, government and customer service who are expanding their workforce in response to COVID-19.
Julie Gearie, CEO of GWG Recruitment said the program was developed to give back to the people and businesses of the Hunter.
“As COVID-19 took effect some of our largest local employers, were forced to stand down major parts of their workforce,” she said.
“We also found that many companies were growing their capacity in response to the crisis or due to increased customer demand.
“Like many others, we’ve had a little more time on our hands recently and we decided to launch Nextwave to help connect great people with new jobs.”
Julie said the program provides employers who are growing their workforce with rapid access to skilled workers at minimal cost.
The aim of the program is to connect as many people with new job opportunities as possible so service will be provided at a minimal expense to interested employers.
“We’ve spoken to hundreds of people that have recently lost their jobs. These workers are keen to get back into the workforce and many are top performers from some of the region’s largest companies,” Julie said.
“The program team, led by Meghan Marmont, now have more than 900 workers registered with the program. They have strong experience and transferable skills across food and beverage, customer service, logistics, cleaning and administration, skills that are in high-demand right now.”
As an extension of the Nextwave program, GWG have also developed a series of free online workshops for jobseekers.
GWG’s Founder and Director, James Grierson, said that it’s always been their goal to provide support to job seekers – now this is more important than ever.
“We’ve always provided our candidates with great advice around resumes and job seeking practices, but since COVID-19 we have been flooded with requests,” he said.
“So, we have turned to webinar technology to help meet jobseeker demand, enabling us to help far more people in a much faster timeframe. The workshops will be simple and actionable, offering advice across resume development, personal branding, interview advice and presentation.”
GWG’s first session is being hosted by Clare Weir, who also has a strong background in HR management.
GWG is well-known for recruitment across professional sectors such as IT, digital, non-profit, marketing, engineering, construction, legal, risk and compliance, administration, HR and customer service.
“Although we primarily recruit professional roles, we believed our team could use their skills and experience to help displaced casual and service-sector workers in this time of need,” James said.
“We want to see Newcastle and Hunter recover strongly, both economically and socially, on the other side of this health crisis.
“Reducing unemployment and building jobseeker skills will be critical in the recovery process.”
To learn more about the Nextwave program visit GWG’s website.
IMAGE | GWG Senior Consultant, Meghan Marmont staff member, Meghan.