Hotel industry giving young people a go
Accomnews recently reported on preparing and retaining the next generation of hotel and accommodation industry professionals. With the industry placing such importance on investing in opportunities for young Australians, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has recently congratulated the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) for a public commitment to create up to 10,000 opportunities.
The opportunities are part of the government’s Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare-Trial-Hire) Programme, which aims to help young job seekers to move from welfare into employment. The 10,000 opportunities will benefit not only those seeking a rewarding career but also the hotel industry itself, which has one of the the highest rates of employment turnover of any industry in the country.
According to Jenny Lambert, director of employment, education and training, employers want to give unemployed young people an opportunity to join the workforce, but are often turned off by the lack of experience or industry knowledge held by the demographic. The intention of the PaTH program is to eradicate fears associated with this problem.
“Anyone organising work experience placements for school students will tell you many business owners worry about bringing people who lack experience into their workplace.
“The PaTH program helps assure business owners by providing preparatory training, particularly when it is directly relevant to the business. Combined with the involvement of their industry body, the PaTH program helps to sway the decision in favour of the young person,” Ms Lambert said.
Ultimately, the program will lead to those taking part to receive an internship placement, providing the kind of start many young Australians are seeking out. From here, there is potential for ongoing placement with hotels. For this to happen, cooperation of the hotel and hospitality industry is crucial.
“We are delighted that even in this early stage of the program, an overwhelming number of the interns who have been employed as a result of the program have been taken on by the host business.
“Linking the employer body with the training and employment services providers will help to ensure young people get long-term jobs out of this program.
“When young people participate in training directly relevant to the opportunities available, we are already seeing that frequently young people are finding work directly out of the training element of the program without needing to do the internship.
“We are also hearing that for many young people who lack confidence due to being out of work for some time, the internship provides a great way for them to enter the workplace without as much pressure.
“These are the on-the-ground experiences of the PaTH program,” she said.
Lauren Butler is a junior journalist here at accomnews. You can reach her at any time with news, opinions and submissions.
