West Coast community members spoke with people in the region and gathered information for this consultation through:
- One-on-one interviews
- Casual site visits
- Community group discussions
- School group discussions
The following details were captured:
Work Status
Of the 88 people spoken with:
- 22 were looking for work
- 20 were not currently looking for work (of these some were caring for children, retired, support workers etc.)
- 40 were students
- 6 were employers
Opportunities
A stand out theme across the whole region was the opportunity to access vacant buildings across the community for various developments and initiatives – co-working spaces, social enterprise exploration, community activity, arts spaces, training facilities, job readiness experiences, etc.
Barriers
The lack of localised training opportunities means that local people can’t gain the skills required for positions available, meaning that skilled positions are often given to people outside of the region.
Sustainability of employment was also raised as a major barrier, with seasonal and casualisation of roles not providing secure and stable job opportunities locally.