Final Insights Summary

This report provides an overview of the Queensland HCWSP program from the start-up until December 2023. As a Final Report, this document provides a whole program overview, and builds on reports provided in March 2023, June 2023 and November 2023. The report describes the evolution of the program as it gathered momentum over its course, drawing from Skills Hubs enrolments and candidate employment, the experiences of consortium leads and program staff, and insights from care workers (through surveys and interviews) and employers (through interviews and workshops).

The Skills Hubs data show rapid engagement with candidates looking for work in aged care, and a reduction in the time from enquiry to employment (speed to market). This increase in speed was seen for both the Skills Hubs and employer phases. The Skills Hubs phase reduced from:

• 13 days at the June report, to
• 11 days at the November report, and to
• 8 days at the Final Report

For the employer phase, the times dropped from:

• 48 days at the June report, to
• 34 days at the November report, to
• 28 days for this Final report

Over the course of the program, 50% of candidates were placed in employment within 4 weeks of submission to employer. However, in the life of the person who’s looking for work even 28 days may be too long, with most people wanting to start immediately or within two weeks. We need to find ways to help people speed through the employment process, not struggle through it. If the process cannot be sped up, then there may be a need to manage expectations and help people maintain their motivation and enthusiasm.

The data also demonstrated that the industry may be narrow in their view of what an aged care worker looks like. The Skills Hubs data show a shift in candidate profiles from early in the program when the pressure to find workers was greatest, to later in the program when employers could return to being more selective as to who they wished to recruit. Candidates tended to be younger in later parts of the program and there were proportionally more males at the start of the program than at the end.

Candidates from CALD background progressed more slowly through both the Skills Hubs and

employer phases. During employer interviews, many employers acknowledged that care workers from CALD backgrounds constituted a significant portion of their workforce. Several employers. Candidates with Cert III, Cert IV or nursing qualifications tended to progress through the Skills Hubs pathway more quickly than those with none or lower levels of training.

Candidates wanting 30 or more hours, and those who were flexible with their hours progressed more quickly. However, paradoxically, inadequate hours of employment was a source of staff dissatisfaction. Analysis of candidate progression through the employment pipeline identified major points where candidates may be lost or abandoned. These included the process of producing a resume, and the stage of waiting to be contacted by an employer for an interview.