NEWS
Toyota extends helping hand for workforce
New programme aims to assist displaced employees after the shut-down of manufacturing facilitiesApproximately 2500 employees will be left without work after Toyota closes down its local car-building operations in 2017. But the company will not leave them to fend entirely for themselves, offering training assistance via a new company-backed initiative named DRIVE (an acronym for dedicated, ready, individual, vocational and energised).
In the first part of the four-year programme, which kicked off this week, employees are invited to speak to case managers at dedicated centres located at both Toyota's manufacturing plant in Altona and at the company's headquarters in Port Melbourne.
The initial part of the programme is essentially an information phase focussing on employment possibilities in other industries. It will comprise a scheduled "career day" as well as referrals for financial services and other assistance programmes.
The Toyota-funded programme is part of a strategy to encourage employees to look at other job opportunities prior to closure of the Altona plant in 2017 and has at its core a need for the company to retain a favourable public profile in the post-manufacturing era. Like Holden and Ford – and the overwhelming bulk of the car industry – the Japanese company will shift from manufacturer to full-line importer and distributor in this post-manufacturing era.
"We are committed to doing everything that we can to support our employees as we transition to a national sales and distribution company," said Toyota Australia President Dave Buttner.
"We understand that the next few years may be difficult for many of our people as they consider their options beyond 2017.
"The DRIVE program will act as a one-stop shop for employees to be in the best possible position of finding a new job in the future."
The initiative is the first specific measure to be formally announced since the big three local car companies – Holden, Ford and Toyota – announced the winding up of local manufacture.
But while neither Holden nor Ford have provided details of their own programmes, both have been embarked on helping affected manufacturing employees to find work elsewhere.
At Ford, where about 1200 people will lose their jobs at the company's Geelong and Broadmeadows plants when manufacturing closes down in 2016, a programme has been implemented to help employees affected by the company's plant closure to transition to new jobs.
The company is conducting what it calls Jobs Fairs initiatives, essentially networking opportunities that expose employees to prospective future employers – and vice versa.
Ford is also working with the federal government funded training organisation Automotive Skills Australia to offer retraining opportunities for employees looking at new industries. The company has also donated $10 million to the Federal and Victorian Governments' Geelong Region and Melbourne's North Innovation and Investment Funds.
This is against a background of Ford's expectation it will be the country's largest car industry employer by 2018 as it adds jobs in areas such as research and development, as well as marketing and sales.
On the other side of town, Holden has taken steps to mitigate employee hardship with financial contributions to government in an ongoing programme that will be enhanced shortly with new information sites focussing on government programmes and services.
Holden's executive director of corporate affairs George Svigos said "Holden has committed $15 million to the federal government's Growth Fund to support careers guidance, skills recognition and retraining of Holden employees.
"We have set up or are in the process of setting up information displays at key sites, with information about government programs and services. And we have also supported different teams in the business to begin running in-house job-readiness sessions.
"We have undertaken an employee-by-employee workforce needs survey to guide decisions we will take about the support services we intend to provide.
"Holden is taking an individual case management approach. We will support each employee as an individual and work with them on developing a tailored transition plan. This will involve high quality careers guidance, so our employees can gain an understanding of where future opportunities may be and how best to transfer their skills. We will also support employees to ensure their current skills are recognised and support further training if that is what is required."
At Toyota, the next phase of its DRIVE programme, which will provide jobs skills training and individual career plans, will be announced in mid 2015.
Although the company has said around 2500 jobs in manufacturing will be affected by the closure, it has yet to put a figure on the number of corporate jobs that will be impacted. According to the company, a figure will be confirmed by the "end of this year."
Toyota's DRIVE centres will remain open for six months after manufacturing ceases.
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If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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