VERTO Chief Executive Officer, Ron Maxwell, today announced VERTO was ready to assist local growers in Orange and Young with their upcoming seasonal harvest labour needs.
Mr Maxwell said VERTO’s Harvest Labour Service assists local orchardists to meet their seasonal harvest labour needs by attracting and recruiting job seekers, backpackers and other itinerant workers into harvest labour vacancies.
“VERTO’s Harvest Labour Service assisted over 1000 harvest workers into vacancies over the 2013-2014 period, which was an increase of over 30 per cent on the previous financial year,” Mr Maxwell said.
“We are ready to assist horticultural producers again this season to recruit staff free of charge through the Jobs Services Australia program, which is funded by the Australian Government.
“We are fortunate to have a diverse range of produce across the region.
“In Orange, cherries will be harvested from December to January and apples will be harvested from February to April.
“In Young, cherries will be harvested from November to December, and from February to April stone fruit (such as peaches and apricots) will be harvested.
“Also, as part of our commitment to the Young cherry industry, we are proud to be a silver sponsor of this year’s National Cherry Festival,” Mr Maxwell said.
In addition to finding seasonal workers, VERTO:
- Uses social media to find workers at short notice;
- Pre-screens workers and completes visa checks;
- Completes applications and paperwork before workers commence;
- Provides ongoing support throughout the season to maintain work forces;
- Is available seven days a week during peak harvest times; and
- Can assist with workplace inductions.
VERTO also provides advice to seasonal workers about local accommodation and transport and will provide workers with directions to local orchardists’ properties.
Mr Maxwell said there were a number of ways both horticultural producers and people looking for work as part of the harvest season could get in touch with VERTO.
“If you’re a producer, please call us on 1300 4 VERTO, visit our website (verto.org.au) or come into our Young office in person,” Mr Maxwell said.
“Job seekers can come into our Young office or better still, can visit our dedicated Facebook ‘Harvest Labour - VERTO’ page (https://www.facebook.com/HarvestLabour), and simply follow and visit the page which is continuously updated with job opportunities.
“I wish all producers the best for the harvest season ahead, and we look forward to working with growers across both Orange and Young this harvest season,” Mr Maxwell said.
