The Grange golf course management is looking to hire a new staff member as it gears up for what will hopefully be a busy summer of events.
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And it is not the only business in the Illawarra to put out a recent job advertisement.
The job market in the region is looking more positive heading towards Christmas with vacancies back to their normal levels.
Human resources manager for Dapto Leagues Club and The Grange, Matt Grant, said he was looking to recruit a food and beverage attendant specifically for functions at the golf course.
"As the business rebuilds, we chose to hire now because we need to make sure we have the staff to work over the next few months," he said.
"We have maintained employment of all existing staff up until this point with the help of JobKeeper which has been positive.
"Now we are future-proofing to ensure we have the staff as events start coming back."
Mr Grant said the business was still abiding by the Public Health Order restrictions for events, and staff were looking forward to holding more weddings, corporate events and sporting team events over the traditionally busy summer and festive period.
"All the people who weren't able to have weddings during the shutdown and through the restricted period have rebooked between January and April next year," he said.
"With restrictions easing, those events that are usually held in spring and summer will hopefully be able to be held and we will work to make them happen safely."
Mr Grant said the ideal candidate for the current position would be someone with experience and then the business will look into hiring more staff so there is a mixture of highly skilled employees and people who want to enter the hospitality industry.
"We are very proud to have kept everyone employed through this period by cross-skilling and creating COVID roles," he said. "The positive sign is that we are now in a position to look for additional staff as the business continues to grow into the new year."
MBC Employment Services' executive officer Davide Greig also agrees that the jobs market in the Illawarra is looking positive moving towards Christmas.
"The data from our employment agency shows there was a huge downturn in job vacancies during April and May but now the number of vacancies has bounced back to a normal level," he said. "That is a positive."
Mr Grieg said now was a good time for people who were out of work, made redundant or had reduced shifts, to look for employment as more jobs were being advertised.
"The national job placements have come back within five percent of what they were last year," he said.
"With more people applying for those jobs, there might be slightly more competition, but that over time will go back to normal."
The number of job vacancies in Australia increased by 59 per cent over the August 2020 quarter, according to new seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Mr Greig said there would likely be an increase in Christmas casual positions.
Across the Illawarra, local councils are recruiting, as are a number or retail and food services, banks and the community sector.
On Thursday, Australia Post announced it was recruiting more than 4000 people across the country to help deliver record parcel volumes.
Mr Greig said the retail industry was expecting strong sales in the lead-up to Christmas, as people had saved more disposable money, which would likely require the need for more casual roles.
He said the information technology, call centre, receptionist, carer and sales industries had job vacancies in the Illawarra.
The ABS reports the three industries with the largest percentage increases in job vacancies in the August 2020 quarter across Australia were the three that saw the largest falls in May. Those industries were arts and recreation services; rental, hiring and real estate services; and accommodation and food services.
Mr Greig said locally, manufacturing and tourism, particularly businesses that relied on international travel, were yet to recover.
He said he was surprised the unemployment rate in the Illawarra, which sits at 6.9 per cent, only 0.2 per cent above the national rate, was not higher given the predictions in May.
"We expected the rate to be astronomically higher at this point when we went through the shutdown in April," he said. "It is good it is at 6.9 per cent."
He said the rate may increase as JobKeeper payments had been reduced, however, it was still too early to tell.
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