Job recruitment services are calling on more people to step forward and consider apprenticeships and traineeships due to soaring demand in Orange.
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Skillset CEO Craig Randazzo said Orange has been resilient through the COVID-19 outbreak and employees across many industries are looking for workers.
Mr Randazzo said apprentices and trainees are particularly in demand and he wanted to challenge the view among many young people that university is the only pathway.
"Trade careers are a great opportunity, that is slightly more in terms of graduate pay, they don't come out with a HECS debt and they earn while they are learning their careers," he said.
He said due to demand for people in trade jobs they could be certain of getting a job.
Mr Randazzo said there was also additional demand for Skillset's labour hire service.
"Employers are looking for a more flexible option to take people on because they are a bit unsure of what's down the track," he said.
He said according to data from REMPLAN,and Regional Development Australia, the largest industry sector for economic output in the Orange area is construction with $794.8 million of Orange's $6 billion output. There are currently about 20,060 jobs in the Orange area making up 27.11 per cent of the 73,991 jobs across the Central West.
Joblink Plus business manager Kristy Benham also said she's seen increased demand for apprentices and trainees this year compared to previous years.
"Probably since October/November we are starting to see a lot of focus on apprenticeships, it seems to be gaining momentum," Mrs Benham said.
"There's always a number of apprenticeship jobs at the start of the year due to school leavers, it seems to be more this year."
She said there was demand for drivers, housekeepers and traffic control was a big one for Joblink Plus.
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"Obviously it was tough through COVID last year but we are finding there's still a lot of jobs available," Mrs Benham said.
"A lot of our clients are hospitality, retail, labouring."
However, she said there were some with university qualifications.
An online job search site had more than 454 job ads for the Orange region on Friday including 73 in trades and services; 45 in community services and development; 41 in manufacturing, transport and logistics; 34 in hospitality and tourism; and 31 in education and training.
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