The expansion of Energy Skills Queensland’s (ESG) training program will bolster opportunities for those interested in enrolling in apprenticeships in Rockhampton and Bundaberg.
ESG recently announced it would enlarge its Gladstone Workforce Skilling Strategy initiative, offering more Australians the opportunity to kick-start a career in the state’s thriving mining sector.
A $300,000 cash injection from Australia Pacific LNG operator ConocoPhillips funded the programs expansion, ESQ said in their latest newsletter.
The aim of the training program is to launch more local job seekers into employment within the CSG and LNG industries, while also ensuring the resource sector has wide access to skilled Queensland professionals.
“Our project is expected to create around 6,000 jobs during the construction phase and about 1,000 permanent positions when it is operating, so we’re keen to support regional training initiatives which can help fill those positions,” ConocoPhillips’ Downstream project manager David Lundeen explained.
ESQ chief executive officer Glenn Porter said the skills program was a vital strategy to ensure the state’s resource sector meets labour demand in skilled and non-skilled positions.
The initiative’s expansion to include Bundaberg and Rockhampton would allow ESQ to discover and train a new workforce to work within the industry.
“The Queensland Workforce Skilling Strategy’s expanded reach from the Gladstone region to include Bundaberg and Rockhampton will allow Energy Skills Queensland to tap into a much broader base of potential employees and provide new skills and a new start to many more people,” Mr Porter said.
