Give it a go.
That’s the advice to employers from Sean Smith, of Tradestaff, who works with Workbridge to place jobseekers into a variety of roles.
And Sean would know.
The Hamilton-based recruitment consultant has recently placed about 10 people into different jobs, from work in an aluminium factory and steel roofing to quality control and a hardware store.
They may have different key roles in their industries, but the feedback from employers has been pretty uniform.
“One of the main problems we have with staff is a lack of reliability, but all of the Workbridge people have been reliable,” says Sean.
“Sometimes it seems they have a point to prove that helps them put in that extra effort.”
He’d happily take on more Workbridge jobseekers, and help them find work.
Especially when so many businesses and industries are struggling in a chronic skills and labour shortage.
And he urges other employers considering their own labour gaps to “give it a go”.
“Don’t let it [a disability] hinder your opinion.
“Just because someone might have a disability, it doesn’t mean their work ethic will be less.”
Quite the opposite, in fact.
As Sean and many other employers are discovering.