Coles has recruited 90 new team members in Dandenong to meet customer demand, with a further 24 positions open, providing much-needed employment opportunities at a time when many Australians are urgently seeking work.
The local recruits have been fast-tracked into Coles’ supermarkets across the region and have come from a wide range of industries and businesses, including many that have been forced to close or to stand down staff such as in travel, sport, fitness and hospitality.
Nationally, Coles has recruited more than 7000 people in just two weeks to meet customer demand, and has now extended the recruitment drive by opening an additional 5000 positions across the country.
The roles include store team members to serve customers and replenish shelves in Coles supermarkets, Customer Service Agents to deliver orders to Coles online customers, and more than 100 trade qualified bakers for in-store bakeries.
Among the thousands of newly-hired Coles team members are NSW resident and international flight attendant Jenny Dunworth who was stood down after a decade serving as a Virgin Australia flight attendant.
“It was upsetting but extremely necessary given the current climate. We’re living in a surreal world, but nothing is more important than keeping each other safe,” the 33-year-old from Caringbah, New South Wales, said.
“I saw a job post on social media. I applied and was immediately accepted. I’m grateful to have a casual job right now, if only to keep my sanity.”
By state, Coles has offered 1700 jobs in Victoria, 2000 in New South Wales, around 1800 in Queensland, 600 in South Australia, 700 in Western Australian, 100 in Tasmania, around 90 in ACT and 100 in the Northern Territory.
Coles CEO Steven Cain said Coles was delighted with the response to the recruitment callout and will continue to work with other major employers and unions to find job opportunities for businesses that were recently forced to reduce team numbers.
“Coles is doing everything we can to support jobs and the economy through this challenging time, while also ensuring we can provide groceries for all Australians,” he said.
“We have been overwhelmed with the number of applications received from across different industries. To ensure we could act quickly, we streamlined our recruitment processes and assigned a dedicated team to fast track applications sent by corporate partners like Australian Venue Company and Virgin Australia.”
