A NEW jobs website targeting South Australians who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, to get involved in seasonal work in agriculture, has attracted more than 1000 clicks a day.
The new jobs campaign, Seasonal Jobs SA, was launched last week to help connect jobseekers with agricultural work across the state and boost regional economies dealing with the impacts of coronavirus.
Primary industries and regional development minister, Tim Whetstone, toured an Adelaide Hills orchard recently and said since SA's borders closed to protect the state from coronavirus, there had been a reduction in international and interstate travellers who would normally take up seasonal jobs.
"The coronavirus pandemic has had an impact across many industries and Seasonal Jobs SA is a call to arms to fill jobs in agriculture to help our farmers put their quality produce on tables around Australia," he said.
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"The campaign's tagline is 'if you need jobs, we need you' and it is encouraging South Australians to give these seasonal jobs a go to help address the significant workforce challenges faced by our primary industries sector going forward.
"To have so many people visiting the site is a great result and with plenty more jobs available in the coming weeks and months we want anyone who has had their employment affected by coronavirus to look into it."
Mr Whetstone also said there would be a wide range of jobs available across a range of agricultural sectors.
"This year around 24,000 workers are needed to fill crucial agricultural jobs, so we need locals to get involved and get their hands dirty for the sake of our primary industries sector," he said.
"If you are looking for a job or you've always thought about getting hands-on picking fruit or being involved directly in agriculture, I'd encourage you to visit the Seasonal Jobs SA website.
"Whether it is fruit-picking, grape-harvesting, vine-pruning, tree-planting or vegetable-packing you'll be playing an important role in putting food on the tables for South Australian families."
By subscribing to the website, prospective workers will be able to match their skills to new jobs as the seasonal work changes, there's a wide range of roles available for each sector throughout the year.
