Regional employments [i.e. employment] relations : some lessons for building businesses and growing employment in a regional setting

In rural and regional areas of Australia and indeed many rural economies the employment relationship is in many ways different to the employment relationships in capital cities and large metropolitan centers. It is clearly the case in regional communities that small and medium enterprises (SME) are the dominant providers of employment opportunities. If SME are growing then employment is growing and if SME are experiencing difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff then there are real employment difficulties. This research reports on a survey of businesses in Central Queensland and analyses the employment trends in small and medium businesses and compares these to state wide trends. The research also reports on the views of employers in these regional and rural centres with regard to traineeships and apprenticeships and their perceptions on the value of employee development and training. Many businesses seek government intervention to improve the availability of skilled labour and are unwilling to invest in employee development. This research attempts to provide a perspective on some of the problems facing employers in regional Australia and suggests some possible solutions.