Contract labour hire firm Workforce Solutions has rejected claims by the recruitment industry lobby group that federal government changes to the 457 visa scheme had thrown the sector into disarray.
Contract labour hire firm Workforce Solutions has rejected claims by the recruitment industry lobby group that federal government changes to the 457 visa scheme had thrown the sector into disarray.
Workforce Solutions, which describes itself as Australia's only recruitment company accredited to provide temporary skilled overseas workers under the 457 visa scheme, said the changes were workable and provided for thetraining of Australian workers to alleviate the skills shortage.
Workforce Solutions managing director Jeff Bradtke said his contract labour hire firm was achieving results that some of its larger rivals could not match.
Workforce Solutions is a family owned Brisbane-based contract labour hire company founded in 1992 that has two offices in Brisbane and one in Perth, as well as a presence in the UK.
"I am delighted to be able to announce that we have been assisting a number of major Australian companies - including Woodside and BHP Billiton - in securing skilled labour from offshore," Mr Bradtke said.
"The new regulations allow operators such as ourselves to be highly vigilant in our selection process of temporary skilled overseas workers and, importantly, provide for training of Australian workers to alleviate the skills shortage.
"Assisting these large Australian companies is evidence that there are gaps in the skilled labour market that we are able to fill. These are gaps our competitors could not fill because they failed to listen to the concerns of the Department of Immigration. We listened."
Mr Bradtke rejected claims made by the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association in October that the regulations had "thrown ... the on-hire sector into disarray".
"I believe we have shown ourselves to be flexible and agile in coming to terms with the new requirements, rather than adopting the attitude that it's all just too hard," he said.
Workforce Solutions finalised an On-Hire Industry Labour Deed of Agreement for Entry of Skilled Overseas Workers with the Federal Government in October this year.
The agreement allows Workforce Solutions to provide temporary skilled overseas workers to its clients under the Section 457 visa scheme.
Workforce Solutions offers end-to-end recruitment and migration services to Australian businesses seeking to employ overseas skilled workers. The company recently completed two migration expos in the UK where a number of applications have been secured from skilled workers.
Workforce Solutions general manager Bill Gamack said that despite the protests of some rival recruiters, Workforce Solutions believed the new regulations around 457 visas were appropriate.
"Unlike our larger competitors, we are able to deliver solutions to Australian companies and can work effectively within the new regime," Mr Gamack said.
