Extracts from Dick Smiths Documentary - The Population Puzzle (ABC)
DICK VO: Last year two thirds of Australia's doctors and nurses were recruited from the world's poorest nations. And why are we looking to the developing world to fill gaps in our work force? because it's a hell of a lot easier and cheaper than training our own people
DICK SYNC: We do it, the easiest way we can and the cheapest way and if you can simply bring someone in as a skilled immigrant, and not do any of the training,
DICK SYNC: What I'd like to see is Australian business concentrating on training people, increasing the skills of
our own work force before just lazily taking people from overseas.
Dick pretty well says it all.
The fact is the CEO's of our airlines have been trained from university days only to spend money when it is actually needed and not a moment before. Pilots are no different to wing mirrors on a Holden Commodore, we want them delivered and ready to go on the day of assembly and not a minute earlier and if we cant get it on the day we will look elsewhere.
This situation is no different;
1. We need pilots for a new base in Singapore
2. We need to firstly advertise internally for interest within the Qantas
group to see if our qualified pilots will be prepared to move on less pay
and conditions.
3. Shock and Horror we tried advertising within our ranks for interest but
got little interest
4. We cant recruit non endorsed pilots within Australia into the job in time
5. We have no option but to look offshore for qualified pilots now.
As Dick Smith documentary showed our companies are simply choosing the easy way out instead of recruiting and training to meet future needs.
There will be many losers in this if it is succesful but those sitting in GA hoping for a slot into airlines may well be the biggest losers of the lot because the competition for jobs will get a lot harder and the knock on effect to our aviation market will be devestating.
Its a disgrace.
Good luck for next week, I wish you well..