Local Lifeblood
What a time to write about high achievers in the Australian wine industry. With record low grape prices, an oversupplied market and slumping demand for Aussie wine worldwide, in recent month's success stories have become harder to find than a perfectly cellared bottle of ‘72 Grange.
Yet, among the fruit left hanging on the vine and warehouses full of unsold vintages, CozWine stands tall as a beacon of optimism in an otherwise gloomy market.
As the industry's leading recruitment agency CozWine operates at the coalface of business, placing permanent, part-time and contract staff into roles in Australia's best wine regions.
"All the market signs should suggest slowing employment," says CozWine national manager, Steve Oliver, from the organisation's Barossa office.
"Yet, our experience over the last six months is telling us the exact opposite. We are busier than ever placing all manner of staff-from winemakers and engineers, to cellar hands and bottling line attendants- into newly created positions."
Nowhere is this trend more apparent than in the Barossa, where against all odds the region continues to record above average State levels of labour force participation rates and is bucking trends to remain at below average levels of unemployment.
"Our information definitely supports this," says Steve. "The Barossa is riding this wave of uncertainty relatively well.
"Businesses want to ensure they are employing the right person the first time round, particularly when the purse strings are tighter. Employment decisions become the one percenters that can make a real difference to an organisation's success. Our role is to take the guess-work out of recruitment-for both job seekers and employers."
More than playing matchmaker though, the CozWine commitment builds communities.
"Healthy employment is the lifeblood of any community," says Steve. "If you've got people working it can completely transform an area-with it comes economic stability and growth.
"Imagine the Barossa with a high unemployment rate. Of course there are the demoralising individual effects-loss of income, struggling to make ends meet, depression-but the broader implications are devastating.
"As one of the largest recruitment firms in the region, we definitely contribute to community stability which brings with it a raft of positive effects for social wellbeing.
We are one of the cogs that keeps the Barossa turning and it is amazing to be a part of this region's success."
But success, Steve cautions, doesn't happen over night.
"Like any business, you have to operate with integrity and reliability. It's about building sustainable relationships," he advises.
"We have recently been awarded new supply contracts in South Australia and New South Wales, but it wasn't an overnight achievement. The team worked for the best part of 18 months to form a strong partnership with the clients."
Does Steve see CozWine as a shining light, helping to lead the bleary-eyed wine industry out of its current darkness?
"A recruiter's role is always pivotal to a winery's success, tough times or not," he says. "There is a constant need to ensure the right people are in the right jobs because that's how we build our communities."
This article appeared in Barossa Living Magazine - Summer 2009-10 edition.
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