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Just under half of jobs in Bendigo are advertised publicly and competition for those jobs is four times as fierce as non-publicised positions.
The latest Department of Employment labour market data showed approximately 44 per cent of local jobs were secured through internal networks or word of mouth.
City of Greater Bendigo economic development unit manager, Brian Gould, said, roughly speaking, three people applied for internal, or word of mouth jobs, while 12 or 13 individuals applied for advertised jobs.
“You get the double whammy in that you are missing out on a large chunk of jobs and if you do see the job and do apply the competition for that job is up to four times greater,” he said.
“Word of mouth and networks are still a very strong way for people to get a job.”
The Bendigo Advertiser last month reported hundreds of applications were flooding in for a handful of local casual and part-time jobs.
One casual cleaner position in Bendigo received more than 420 applications in 30 days.
Employment providers believed the backlog of job applications was caused by casual and part-time workers trying to collect extra hours by taking on extra jobs.
Unadvertised jobs is Bendigo is seemingly a systemic problem, with Mr Gould suggesting the percentage had hovered around the 40 per cent mark for two decades.
And the high percentage (97 per cent), of small business – less than 20 employees –contributed to this, Mr Gould said.
“A lot of businesses don’t have HR (Human Resources) departments that deal with recruitment,” said Mr Gould, adding the City of Greater Bendigo encouraged the Bendigo Regional HR Network to meet a few times each year to tackle recruitment issues.
Mr Gould said children of unemployed families were a focus for the City of Greater Bendigo.
“We need to do something about the fact that there are students in Grade Six who have a member of their family who are not working,” he said.
Given the existing employment ‘word of mouth’ job structure, children of unemployed families were significantly more disadvantaged, he said.
A Passions and Pathway Program, which promotes and showcases manufacturing careers to Bendigo students from low socio-economic areas, began in 2010.
Eaglehawk and Lighting Reef primary schools are involved in the program.
The City of Greater Bendigo also has a Career Horizons web portal, which helps coordinate work experience for youngsters in the region.