A multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Griffith University’s Departments of Employment Relations and Human Resources; Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management; Accounting, Finance and Economics; the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing; and the Griffith Institute for Tourism recently completed a labour force skills audit and gap analysis for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The project – awarded through a competitive tender process – sought to identify potential skills shortages in the multiple sectors of Queensland’s economy in the lead up to, delivery of, and legacy surrounding the Commonwealth Games.
Headed by WOW’s Associate Professor Keith Townsend (pictured left):
“This project demonstrates Griffith University’s strengths in drawing together researchers that would otherwise not work together.”
“The Commonwealth Games showcases Queensland to all Commonwealth nations (which makes up almost 2 billion people). Delivering any event like this requires a very diverse workforce who need to be managed for the short term, high performance event that the Games is.”
Keith also highlights the Games’ anticipated volunteer workforce:
“At the Glasgow Commonwealth Games there were 12 500 volunteers recruited. It is anticipated that a similar number will be required for the Gold Coast Games. Policy makers in Queensland are acutely aware that this provides…opportunities to engage a number of socially disadvantaged groups in the State and provides opportunities [for people to] re-enter the active workforce with a developed skillset.”
“While our report provided a number of recommendations to the [State] Government…to consider in their workforce planning leading into the event, this project has been a tremendous opportunity to work with different colleagues from the Griffith Business School and gain …insight into the complexity of staffing a major sporting event.”
The research team includes Associate Professors Keith Townsend and Mohan Thite, Professor Kristine Toohey, Dr Millicent Kennelly, Dr Shyama Ratnasiri and Research Assistant,Mr Paul Dibley-Maher.