ATC Vacancies - Brisbane

[Zerc]

Greetings to all from the desert and all the best for 2005!

I wonder if anyone could tell me the REAL state of affairs re ATCO staffing at Brisbane.
I am an ATCO with 18+years En route experience currently employed in the Middle East and looking to work in Brisbane ACC/Enroute.Although not Australian I have permanent residence status.
I first applied to Airservices over a year ago ( online ) and also contacted various people via email both at Brisbane and Melbourne.I have found it particularly hard to deal with the centre managers directly as I am always referred to the HR people.Regarding Brisbane I have been told there are currently no ATCO vacancies.However speaking to some of my Ozzie colleagues they seem pretty short.Added to this I know of three ex-Brisbane controllers who have / will be joining us here shortly.So which is it ?
Any info in this regard will be appreciated :confused:

[bo-aggs]

Zerc,
staffing is getting a bit short, particularly in Melbourne (or so I hear). There are ab-initios coming in the door but they are only just keeping up with those leaving, and with the looming retirement hump and increasing numbers jumping ship it will get pretty tight from mid year on. HR (and Canberra based managers) are telling you different because of;
1. the continuing antipathy towards ex employees who dared to go overseas
2. an apparent policy of using overtime to cover staffing shortages, in the mistaken belief that it is cheaper in the long run
3. under estimation of leave required to cover the age groups that are having babies and those that are going non operational because of health issues as they hit their fifties.
Basically there seems to have been a bad decision made somewhere and no-one is going to admit it.
This is of course mere idle gossip.

Bo-aggs

[Hempy]

my advice.....stay where you are :uhoh:

[Zerc]

Thanks for the info , Bo-aggs.

Sounds rather grim in Melbourne Hempy ?:oh:

[Uncommon Sense]

Comments on this subject taken from another discussion board:



Airspace closures may kick the apathetic in to action - hopefully aided by the airlines who will be asking why they are paying Navcharges for TIBA.

Huge Overtime = Tired Workforce = Increased Sickness & Increased Operational errors = More Overtime (vicious circle).

Middle Management is motivated by cash in the pocket for reductions in sick leave and reductions in incidents.

As they end up with increases in both, maybe the penny will drop that it's the wrong way to provide incentives to an organisation that lives and dies by safety (according to the glossy posters).

Unfortunately the critical point of retirement age eligibility vs. time to recruit / train new controllers has been eclipsed. This will make the game of catch up even longer and slower. The amount of operational controllers taken to do projects to find new ways to do more with less is not helping. The projects are not bearing the promised fruits.



If Melbourne is worse than Brisbane, it must be grim indeed.

There are several in the centres about to abandon ship for the UAE if that is any indication.

[tobzalp]

The Canadians had the right idea with the experienced controller program. They were hiring people at a pay rate that was acceptable. The Airservices rate is disgraceful in comparison.

[ferris]

An experienced controller program?
Now there's a thought. Do they realise that if they started one, they would be able to plug the gaps in a very short time (TAAATS course plus validation- say 8 weeks), especially if they offered to sponsor applicants for PR. They would have a queue a mile long (Sth Africans etc). Maybe they do realise, and are seeing how far things stretch before they actually break? You can't argue that it isn't cheaper to pay overtime than increase staff levels- they've been doing it for years. Cheaper and Safer are not often the same. The Airservices rate is disgraceful in comparison Zerc is not complaining about what's on offer- he can't get an offer of anything.
Next time you guys want a day off, ask your manager why AsA still has the NoVacancy sign up.

[Dehavillanddriver]

The silly thing is that I know someone who has the following qualifications:

11 yrs service
Ex FSO
FS-ATC short course
radar rating in Brisbane
Procedural ratings ex Perth
OJTI
FPC
Peer counsellor
Never been suspended

Applied for a job ex Brisbane and was told that she would need to do the complete course (at the time was 3 years out of the job), and besides no vacancies are available.

Here is a person who was/is a good controller, wants to work and can't because to go and do the full course it would mean considerable time away from her family, where if she got a recurrency course she could probably do it in Brisbane, or if it was in melbourne she could make alternative arrangements for children etc for the short period of time that it would take.

I don't think that they are real serious at the moment.

[SM4 Pirate]

I heard in the corridors of power about two weeks before the Christmas shut down that there may be offers of TA to Brisbane staff to fill the hole that has developed in Melbourne.... Based on that I'd say ML is in bigger trouble; BN is over staffed on the RMP tool... As for ASG; well big trouble getting the right amount of bodies needed in the next three years... Something like 96...

[Zerc]

Thanx for the response so far

If I read it correctly then there are currently staff shortages , particularly at Melbourne.
This could get worse by mid year due to pending ATCO retirements and reduction in operational staff on medical grounds.
There is currently an Ab-initio ATCO recruiting drive to address this shortfall but this may not be enough.
There are possibly other controllers leaving/thinking of leaving due to current working conditions.
Airservices are currently not recruiting "foreign" controllers regardless of their resident status.

:uhoh:

PS - Whats ASG?

[tobzalp]

ASG is Airport Services Group. The Towers.

[No Further Requirements]

Ah yes, this old subject again.....

From what I've heard, the reason that people aren't hired and payed in line with their previous experience (overseas, ex-RAAF etc) is that some people, and maybe the union, would get their noses out of joint over it. People must 'earn their stripes', or in this case, their money!

I have heard that there maybe some BN Enroute courses (short and long) towards the end of the year. Just a rumour though.

On the subject of money, previously experienced controllers now get the final field pay (about $46,000 AUD p/a) at the college, which is better than the previous amount of $29,000. It's a start, but they then join those illustrious people at the Journeyman rates for five years!

Cheers all,

NFR.