The New Energy Project provided businesses with free recruitment support to employ pre-screened and trained people who are ready to start work but might have faced barriers to finding secure employment.
We enlisted six Victorian renewable energy businesses to employ 31 high priority jobseekers through the New Energy Project. We focussed on renewable energy manufacturing and related manufacturing/supply chain employers predominately in South East Melbourne, then matched their needs to eligible jobseekers with our project partner Maxima.
Our recruitment of businesses into this project is now complete. This project is supported by the Victorian Government through Jobs Victoria’s Priority Workforce Projects.
Participating renewable energy businesses
These businesses are now working with new employees placed through the New Energy Project:
| New energy business | New employee roles |
|---|---|
| JR Hammer Thomastown | One woman is now employed full time as a Site Manager in a business partnering with Lotus Energy downstream in the supply chain recovering valuable materials from decommissioned renewable energy generators. |
| Lotus Energy Thomastown | New employees are entry-level Process Operators aged 18–25 years, apart from a Researcher and a Research Assistant. All are employed full time at a full life cycle solar panel recycling facility. |
| PowerPlus Energy Scoresby | Three new employees are working full time as Assemblers and one as a Storeman for this renewable energy storage manufacturer. All are young people 18–25 years. |
| RayGen Resources Hawthorn East | Most are employed full time as Machine Process Operators involved in assembling and testing componentry for circuit boards used for intensive solar capture. One is a full time Project Engineer. |
| Sky Energy Keysborough | One new employee is working full time as an Accountant, supporting the manufacture of SkyBox - a battery and computer system that manages various energy inputs (solar, wind, generator) and combines them into one singular output of power. |
| SRS Metals Thomastown | Many new employees are working full time as Process Operators in a partnership with Lotus Energy downstream in the supply chain recovering valuable materials from decommissioned solar panels. Other new employees include a HR & OHS Coordinator, an Administration Assistant, and a Sales and Customer Service Consultant. |
These businesses showed commitment to providing opportunities to people who needed extra support to find work, are passionate about growing the renewable energy sector workforce, and were able to offer secure and inclusive roles of at least 12 months.
Benefits to the employer
Participating businesses are now benefitting from employees who are fully trained and ready for the job. They will also get ongoing support during the life of this project, at no cost.
Maxima will provide training and wrap around support for the first 12 months, up to December 2024.
New employees in renewable energy
All new employees now supported through this project are working in entry-level full or part time (with a minimum of 19-hours a week) for a minimum of 12 months or more. Some roles may lead to other higher-skilled roles.
Our delivery partner Maxima recruited, onboarded and supported 31 candidate jobseekers who were unemployed or underemployed and met at least one of these criteria:
- women
- young people 18-25 years
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians
- Victorians living with disability
- people who are long-term unemployed
- people seeking asylum and refugees
- newly arrived migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds
- veterans
- people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds who face additional barriers to employment
- single parents.
This project did not support placement into casual roles.
Our commitment
We are investing $11 million to deliver a comprehensive training and workforce development program. Our aim is for solar industry workers to have the skills and capabilities to deliver our programs and to support growth in the solar energy industry.
Boosting training and workforce development will ensure Victoria has an ongoing supply of skilled workers to support growth in the renewable and clean energy sector.
Training and workforce development
We are investing $11 million to deliver a comprehensive training and workforce development package. Learn how you can upskill for free or at low-cost to help grow Victoria’s clean energy workforce.
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