Last week's Guest Speaker: John Duthie - ETC Employment

"The children are our future."  Not necessarily the most original statement, in particular if you include politician's speeches over the past 100 years. (Remember a certain leader declaring that "no child will live in poverty by 1990"?)  Not original, until you connect to John's context: he refers to the families of the perpetually unemployed. "There are families which have, for the past 4 or 5 generations, experienced total unemployment, meaning that no member of the family ever worked." John declared. Strong stuff, almost unimaginable for Rotarians who, traditionally, would come from an environment of family internal motivation, fostering of values, encouragement to make a difference, and - most importantly - ensuring that their children become professionally successful. "All it needs is for one child to break the cycle. "He/she will get a job, will be able to afford things, will gain recognition, will gain self confidence". Simple recipe, but not necessarily simple to implement!

 

ETC, a Registered Training Organization (RTO) contracts to the Government to obtain employment for - yes - the unemployed.  And unemployables. Yet, "after gaining the contract" to start on 01/07/2015, within 6 weeks they had 7,500 "clients" in employment.  Pretty impressive, huh? They research prospective employers, prior to their client obtaining an interview.  That way, they generate some 40-50 vacancies per week. Interestingly, there appears to be a shortage of potential workers for the Commonwealth Games in 2018, in particular in the area of Security.  So they conduct training in these areas - common sense really, but perhaps not for some departments.

 

"Schools are grooming students for University rather than for work" John declared.  "If their students don't perform in the NAPLAN test, the school loses out." Hmmm... interesting to hear from the "unlistened to" side, from the people who are at the coal face of the real world at the other end of the scale.  I never cease to be amazed at the breadth and width of speakers that one can listen to in Rotary!

 

You can gain much more information about ETC from their website: http://www.etcltd.com.au where you will also find information about their services for disabled people, their Community Support Fund, advice for Small Business and much more.