Learn more about Papua New Guinea Workforce Solutions.
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00:00My name is Hakawa, Hakawa Harry. I'm the director for the PNG Labour Mobility Unit.
00:22Papua New Guinea workers are very committed, loyal people. They're very strong, just basically
00:34all around the country, given the lack of opportunity that they have. Once they grab
00:41something or they're given that opportunity, they take it with both hands and they're committed
00:46to it.
00:47Papua New Guinea, I think, have been the most successful of the countries that we've had
00:53through the PALM scheme. Each individual has their own choice to make, it doesn't matter
00:59what country you come from, but we've found PNG to be very successful to date.
01:03We wouldn't be able to have been so successful with a projection of 10% growth over the next
01:09three years without the sustainable labour solution that the PALM scheme gives us. We
01:15started in 2016 with four gentlemen from PNG and they've proven to us how valuable
01:22the program is and the benefits to their family over this period of time.
01:27If I were an Australian employer, I would hire people from Papua New Guinea, especially
01:32in aged care, because we are a very communal people. We live with, we live very closely
01:39with our families. A lot of them are elderly, so a lot of our people have natural experience
01:47and tendencies to take care of our older generations.
01:52In March of this year, a couple of colleagues and I went to PNG to conduct an in-country
01:57recruitment trip. It was a really successful trip. I think we interviewed around 160 candidates.
02:03We came away with 100 candidates that we're now ready to place. We've already placed some
02:08of those candidates and they're performing really well.
02:10Personally, I've found that the PNG workforce has been very reliable for our host clients.
02:17They've been physically well suited to the jobs. They've come away with a relatively
02:21good understanding of what they were coming into, which is something that we hold in very
02:26high regard when we're liaising with labour sending units in the Pacific.
02:31We've got leaders who understand that this is a great opportunity for our young people
02:36and so we're excited to work with employers and companies on what do you need, what are
02:43your needs and what are your requirements for workers. For employers, come out, get
02:48to meet with us, get to meet with the hubs and let's talk about that opportunity and
02:54how we can work together on developing the kinds of workers you want. As much as it is
02:58a benefit for us, we want to be able to provide you the best type of workers that you want.
03:03We encourage employers to come into country. That's important and we can look after employers
03:10in our country as well. The LMU go out of its way to make sure that we show you what
03:19the country is like, what the country can be able to offer you and we always encourage
03:27you to go out to our provinces first and foremost and see for yourself what kind of province
03:34it is and what kind of place you're recruiting from and to give you the comfort that you're
03:39getting people that will come back and make a difference in the community and the lives
03:44of their family.