Published on the 14/05/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
By some estimates as many as one in ten of Australia’s IT professionals is a contractor – now a recruitment agency has launched a novel loyalty programme to woo more talent for its clients…
Enterprises keenly understand the benefits that can come from employing contractors rather than full-time staff, in terms of flexibility and access to fresh skills sets. The often unplanned for consequence of relying on contractors can however be extremely high churn rates.
IT&T recruitment specialist Talent International has now introduced what it claims as the sector’s first contractor loyalty programme called Benefit. A tiered programme with multiple membership levels the scheme allows contractors to earn points the longer they stay with an organisation.
Members of the programme will be able to access a range of services such as travel, finance, accommodation and social programmes. The first partner announced for the programme is Virgin Active which will offer a complimentary induction membership for contractors who are signed up to the Benefit programme.
The initiative was unveiled by Talent managing director Richard Earl and Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson at an event in Sydney on Friday.
In addition Talent International, which has offices in Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK, has introduced the ShareIT network which targets the 6000-plus IT professionals who head overseas each year from Australia or New Zealand. A key element of this network is Talent’s Transit Lounge which will support IT professionals heading overseas with what it describes as a “concierge service” providing advice about travel arrangements, visas, banking and financial services plus introductions to other travelling IT professionals.
The company was at pains to stress that it was “not adding fuel to any perceived brain drain” rather that by keeping in regular contact with the Australian diaspora it would be easier to find jobs for these internationally seasoned professionals when they decided it was time to return to Australia.
