WAMMCO Named as Australia

Last night, WAMMCO (the Western Australian Meat Marketing Co-Operative) was named as Australia’s best employer of Job Network job seekers during 2007.

WAMMCO took out the Champion Employer of the Year Award in the 2008 NESA Awards for Excellence.

The Champion Employer of the Year award was granted to WAMMCO by the National Employment Services Association (NESA), Australia’s leading body representing providers of social and workforce participation services.

The company was recognised for the outstanding provisions they make for new employees, and also for giving staff the opportunity to complete paid on-the-job Meat Industry Training, to Diploma level.

In announcing WAMMCO’s win, Awards MC Glenn Capelli said “WAMMCO is a meat marketing co-operative with more than 1,000 members who farm the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. They process 900,000 units annually and employ 138 former Job Network jobseekers. WAMMCO provide extensive pre-employment training, a six-week induction “buddy” system and bus transport for employees. They also cater for staff needs by offering a special “Mothers Shift” for parents and by paying junior workers an adult wage.”

“This impressive company injects $21 million into the local economy each year through their ‘Buy Local’ policy,” Mr Capelli said.

Another local took out the Achiever of the Year Award. Lynne Ward from Community First International was recognised as the most outstanding former job seeker who has beaten the odds to find sustainable employment.

The NESA awards also acknowledge hard-working employment consultants and employment teams.

The employment services industry, together with Centrelink, employs more than 40,000 people working in more than 2,000 offices across Australia. Together, they liaise with more than one million Australians each year.

According to NESA CEO Sally Sinclair “These Australians are the indirect benefactors of the NESA Awards for Excellence, as the awards promote innovation and professionalism by employers and in the employment services industry.

“The Awards highlight the commitment the employment industry makes to improve the well-being of Australians, the excellent levels of service offered and the very real successes resulting from hard work and innovation of industry professionals,” she said.

“There are few programs that truly acknowledge achievements that have a direct and lasting impact on improving the social fabric of our society. The NESA Awards for Excellence is one such program,” Ms Sinclair said.

More than 550 of the employment industry’s most influential leaders gathered for the gala awards dinner, which was held  in Cairns in Queensland’s Far North.