MS TIERNEY — To ask the Assistant Treasurer (for the Minister for Employment and Trade): In relation to the 30 job cuts at IBM in Ballarat reported in the Ballarat Courier on 20 August 2013, what assistance will the Napthine government provide workers who have been affected by these job cuts.
ANSWER:
I am informed that:
Assistance is being provided to the 30 workers in Ballarat affected by the recent job losses reported in the Ballarat Courier on 20 August 2013.
Retraining information and support has been provided though the Ballarat office of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development under the Victorian Training Guarantee.
The Victorian Training Guarantee support was provided in collaboration with the commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, as part of the Employment Response Plan for the Ballarat region.
Other assistance was provided in the form of information packs under the Business in Transition Support (BiTS) program to Man Power, the labour hire company that provided the contract staff to IBM. The BiTS information packs were provided through the Department of State Development, Business and Innovation (DSDBI) and coordinated with the support provided by Man Power to the workers affected.
IBM management has advised DSDBI that they are assisting the workers to apply for other roles that IBM will soon be recruiting for at the Ballarat facility as well as elsewhere within the company.
In addition, IBM is providing access to employment support services to help identify employment opportunities outside of the company.
IBM advised that each of the people affected by the redundancies had received new skills training over the last two years with each person to graduate in September 2013 with a certificate level III.