From the golden shores of Australian to the rainy streets of the UK?
We all know about skilled workers struggle to obtain an Australian visa to enter the country, but now it seems some skilled Australians are looking to this country for work.
According to the BBC, North Somerset council is finding it so hard to recruit staff to work in childcare that it’s now sending two members of staff over to Australia to recruit 10 social workers.
With the recent tragic cases of Baby P and the so-called ‘Doncaster Two’, social services are finding it harder and harder to recruit social workers. And with the figures of children in care rising (from 98 in North Somerset in 2008 to 233 today) the North Somerset council are having to take drastic measures.
The two social work managers will interview around 30 candidates during a 9 day trip to Australia. It is then hoped that 10 new social workers will be added to the books and will be ready to start in June of this year.
Some might question this spending of tax-payers money, especially when councils are being urged to cut back on spending. But they insist it’s money well spent especially as they are currently paying agency staff 50% more to fill in the gaps in the workforce. And they say they chose Australia because it has a surplus of skilled social workers.
But in this day and age surely they can recruit staff online using the latest virtual technology? Well not according to Terry Herbert, social care manager at the council who says: “We considered carrying out the interviews via video link from North Somerset but felt that it was really important to meet our candidates face-to-face where you get a better feel for their professional and personal qualities.”
He also said he is confident that the trip will result in the recruitment of “top quality social workers” to join the team in North Somerset.
Whether or not the Australians will want to leave their sun-kissed beaches and bbq lifestyle for wet and windy Britain is another issue. As is the reaction of the people of North Somerset who will be paying for the recruitment trip.
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