Firstly, we’d like to thank those of you who responded to our DES participant survey last month. Without your feedback it’s a hard for us to give you more of what you want and to improve areas of our service.

Everyone’s employment needs, wants and realities are different. We learned that around 40% of you are looking for part time work, 25% are seeking full time employment, 18% of you were looking for something casual with a high degree of flexibility and 16% of you are not confident in actively looking for work at the present time.

The most popular industries DES job seekers want to work within are Administrative and support services, Health Care and Retail, Education, accommodation, and transportation. Most of you felt we had a good range of jobs on offer.

Pleasingly, 86% of you agreed that we helped you understand your obligations and 82% of you felt we understood your unique and personal experiences. 69% percent said you felt Employment Plus could provide you all the support you needed to find a job.

With 7 in 10 of you saying you’d recommend Employment Plus to a friend needing similar support we’ve also taken note of some of the areas we can improve on too.

They key areas we’re looking to improve on are communication processes around appointment making and providing more resources – from more referrals to psychology support through to more practical skills like budgeting – to enhance pathways to end goals.

We’re also looking to improve how we manage staff changes at our end better and provide a range of job opportunities that utilise a range of skills and experience.