Jessica Angus, from Australia’s largest privately owned recruitment and workforce solutions company WorkPac, said last week her company was responsible for recruiting more than a dozen people to work in the site.
Her company is acting on behalf of Downer Group, which will manage the makeshift community once the build is completed by Johns Lyng Group and its contractors, which include Warde Brothers from Rochester.
Ms Angus said the positions that were being offered at Rochester South were all on a casual employment basis, but the expectation was there would be ongoing work for much of 2023.
She said the response to advertisements for work at the site had been “pleasing’’ and a few people had already started in their roles.
“We are slowly getting people in there, although we are still at the application stage for many roles,” she said.
Ms Angus said there were new roles popping up all the time and she was unsure just how many people her company would be responsible for recruiting.
“At the moment, along with the advertised positions, we are looking for cleaners,’’ she said.
“As the site grows so will the opportunities.”
Ms Angus said among the applications had been flood-affected Rochester people who had lost their jobs.
“It has been pleasing that we are able to help them with these positions,” she said.
Ms Angus said she had been sourcing workers from Elmore, Rochester and the surrounding region.
“We seem to be attracting the right people, but if anyone is interested they should be applying now.
“We will be keeping people’s names on file if other positions come up,” she said.
Among the first roles advertised were two food safety supervisors, who will take charge of food services for the fast-growing population of the temporary accommodation site.
There were roles for a quartet of catering assistant positions advertised, who will be responsible for heating and serving pre-prepared meals and preparing simple food items such as sandwiches, salads and toasties.
They will also be part of the clean-up crew for the mess hall that will be the major communal dining establishment for the community.
An administration team will be installed to manage the daily accommodation services, including introducing newcomers to the Rochester South site to their accommodation and conducting ongoing and departure inspections.
They will also manage maintenance and service requests and ensure the housekeeping and cleaning teams operate effectively.
A maintenance and trade team will also be established at the site to ensure the upkeep of equipment on the site.
