Aged Care Industry Shows Overwhelming Demand for Employees

Only a year ago, our unemployment queues were long – but as the economic recovery gains speed, the aged care sector is one industry that is growing fast with an increasing number of new jobs on offer.

Australia’s ageing population has led to an increase in demand for workers in the aged care sector, specifically within in-home care.

Older Australians prefer to continue to live in their own home as they age, however this has become even more important as a result of the pandemic and following some negative findings from the Royal Commission enquiry into aged care.

More and more ageing adults would prefer in home help to avoid having to move into a residential aged care facility, and the Federal Government is significantly increasing funding to enable people to age safely at home.

Australia’s leading home care provider, Home Instead, employs and trains people to provide in-home care services to support older Australians to continue living safely and independently in their own home. Home Instead is seeking to employ many more people across the country and train them to become CAREGivers.

They are specifically encouraging mature aged people who are seeking a rewarding career change, and those looking for casual work to apply.

“As a result of Australia’s ageing population, we are seeing an increase in community awareness of the need for quality in-home care services and this has heightened the demand for our CAREGivers,” says Home Instead Australia founder Sarah Warner.

“We’d love to see people who have previously worked in hospitality, tourism or retail apply to become CAREGivers. We know they already have really wonderful transferrable skills that are perfect for the in-home care industry,” Mrs Warner says.

“At Home Instead we are a people-focused business that prides ourselves on providing quality in-home care services centred around the needs and wishes of each older person we care for. People who have previously worked in hospitality, tourism or retail already have the customer focused skills we are looking for and we offer flexible working hours that they may be used to.

"In addition, we provide the aged care training that they need to become a Home Instead CAREGiver, and our CAREGiver Learning Pathway is mapped to a Certificate 3 qualification.

“For caring and compassionate people being a CAREGiver is a highly rewarding role and is a great new opportunity for those who may be finding it difficult to gain employment in their former service industry. CAREGivers have flexible working hours which can work around their other commitments such as caring for children, or university studies."

Zelda Collocott joined Home Instead as a CAREGiver in November 2020, after being retrenched from her job with a food services company at the start of the pandemic.

After a 30-year career in sales, Zelda decided it was time for a change and fast-tracked her Certificate 3 aged care qualification in just seven months (with the help of Federal Government funding) before finding and joining Home Instead. She says it’s the most rewarding decision she’s made, and she’s much happier working in in-home aged care.

“It’s so fulfilling, to me it’s not a job. You just think every single day that you want to go to work. That alone is a fantastic feeling, to wake up and look forward to going to work!

“I especially love how Home Instead has the ability to support an individual client’s needs. You’re basically maximising your client’s wellbeing and their sense of purpose in life.

“I don’t ‘do things’ for people, I assist them. You’re empowering them. It’s so rewarding to come home every evening and know that you’ve really made a difference to another person’s life.”

Zelda loves the engagement she has with each of her clients and the companionship she is able to provide to them, and she strongly recommends her CAREGiver role to anyone still out of work as a result of the pandemic.

“You learn so much from each client. When you start chatting to them and hear about their life and interests; it’s fascinating and I’ve really learnt so much. It’s the best career change I could have hoped for.”

Find out more about Home Instead.