Business
20 August, 2024
Virtual reality employed to entice next generation of workers
Construction Skills Queensland believes it is an effective method.
With billions of dollars in construction projects in the pipeline across the North West, employment groups are utilising virtual reality (VR) technology to attract the next generation of local workers.
Not for profit organisation, Construction Skills Queensland (CSQ) regional engagement manager Laleta Wright said the employer group had brought the VR headsets to the Mount Isa Jobs Expo as part of a wider North West tour to attract locals to the construction industry.
She said there was a particular focus on engaging young people, with CSQ recently taking the VR headsets to Doomadgee, where they were a hit with the school children.
“We are meeting young people in their own space,” she explained.
“We know kids already play video games and are already comfortable in that virtual interactive environment so this is a way to engage them and make them get a feel for what a job in construction might look like.”
The headsets enable job seekers to walk onto a virtual construction site and hear from surveyors, the foreman and machinery operators.
The participants can also interact with the area and get a flavour of the work involved on the job site, including operating some basic machinery and flying drones.
Trying the headsets at last week’s Job Expo was Michael Harman, who finished school at Spinifex State College two years ago and is currently undergoing a traineeship with Mount Isa City Council.
An avid gamer, he said the VR concept would appeal to young jobseekers.
“I can definitely see how people would get a feel for the jobs on offer,” he said.
“It is just like playing a game.”
