Gowest, a NSW Government regional development board working in the Orana region near Dubbo, is offering the over-1000 recently retrenched and redundant workers from Mitsubishi Motors in south Adelaide employment - if they are prepared to move across the border to live and work.
The offer has the potential to benefit both parties - not only providing new jobs and stability for the workers left out in the cold by Mitsubishi, but it would alleviate the skills shortage while boosting social and economic conditions for the small Orana community.
"Our region certainly has a skills shortage (and) the skills range at Mitsubishi includes skills that we currently need here," said Chairman of the Gowest regional development board, John Walkom.
There is hope that the sacked South Australian workers would move to the region, bringing their families, skills and expertise with them.
Much is being done to attract and encourage them to make this career transition including calls and emails being sent out, and a jobs expo is being planned for 6th & 7th of March at the Mitsubishi Motor site in Clovelly Park.
It is hoped this will spread the word and provide information and awareness on the potential job markets elsewhere.
It's the latest approach to solving skills shortages which has involved competition between States and regions to attract much needed skill staff. This includes Queensland trying to attract New South Wales trades people to move to its golden shores, and Western Australia vying for Queenslanders to take part in the mining boom.
The Member for Dubbo, Dawn Fardell, has backed the GoWest initiative.
She says it is a visionary move given the skills shortage in the region.
"These fellows are very skilled, trained workmen, they've been employed in Mitsubishi for quite some time," she said.
"I look at other parts of my area, not just Dubbo, but Parkes with Nash Tanks and SCT Logistics all those areas that are just crying out for skilled tradesmen."
Whilst Gowest could not predict the number of workers who would make the decision to move to another state to live and work, this is nonetheless a case of a story with a seemingly depressing and bleak beginning but with a potentially positive, constructive conclusion - an enticing new employment pool created out of one which was drained out.
