"More jobs than people" is a cry most employers in Leeton shire and other regions are all too familiar with.
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To help arm businesses with knowledge and tips on how to attract people to fill these positions, the first-ever Leeton Recruitment Summit was just the ticket on Tuesday, May 7.
In response to the evolving recruitment landscape in regional areas, the Leeton Business Chamber collaborated with Leeton Shire Council, Workforce Australia, the Grow NSW Program and Welcoming Cities for the summit.
A solid number of employers and businesses were represented on the day, with Maryann Iannelli from the chamber pleased with the response.
A range of guest speakers walked participants through new ideas, strategies and insights on how to attract not just the right person for the job, but retain them long-term both in the position and in the shire itself.
"We had good representation across the board ... small businesses, major employers and in between," Mrs Iannelli said.
"One of the main perspectives from (the summit) was to get an understanding of what the challenges are.
"What we already know is regional employers are going through different issues compared to metro employers.
"So, some of things pointed out was getting transport for people to get to work.
"That's making it hard for people to apply. There's a wide-range of different challenges.
"One of the outcomes from today was the possibility of creating a working group of local employers and some of our presenters today so they can all work together on solutions and helping each other."
The event also showcased the importance of getting on the front foot when it comes to these issues and discovering how communities and businesses can be proactive in this area.
Chamber president Krystal Maytom said it was important to keep working on bridging gaps when it comes to regional employment concerns.
"For me, I work in recruitment, so I think it its important to be on the front foot, to hear from other businesses on what their challenges are and how we can maybe work together," she said.
"Can we work together to work on solutions or ideas?
"Whether that's training options, focusing more on building apprentices in our region to fill trade roles.
"All of those sorts of things. I think we all took a lot out of today."
Mrs Iannelli said following on from the summit, businesses shouldn't shy away from tackling the challenges head on.
"In relation to recruitment, it's making sure businesses are educated on the tools available that can help them," she said.
"There is a lot of help available.
"It's important we work together to overcome challenges.
"As a result of the summit, we'll have the working group and in terms of events, we may have other events or initiatives to help our local employers."