The Client

Bright Employment, an organisation that offers employment pathways for migrants, sought advice from UTS on a growth and commercialisation strategy.

Bright Employment, founded in 2013, provides training programs and employment pathways to new migrants in Sydney, with a focus on asylum seekers and refugees.

The not-for-profit organisation offers job opportunitities and training programs in building and construction, commercial cleaning and hospitality.

Over 80% of their cohort are finding full-time employment, which has accelerated the employment within this demographic when compared to the five year demographic. Bright Employment also connects new migrants and asylum seekers with professional social service organisations within their local communities.

The Challenge

The purpose of UTS’ research was to discover how to best leverage industry opportunities, government infrastructure and unique candidate profiles to maximise the company’s success. The EMBA student team was tasked with developing employment solutions for migrants in the hospitality industry.

The Solution

Analysing employment data, the EMBA project team reconfirmed the hospitality industry as a sector that could provide lasting employment opportunities for new migrants.

The industry had nearly double the percentage of vacancies and double the staff retention issues when compared with other industries—28 vacancies per 100 staff, compared to 16 across all industries, with an average employee turnover rate of 64%.

The EMBA team suggested re-orienting marketing efforts and streamlining the process of job acquisition for new graduates of the program. Student development remained at the centre of the program objectives. With a marketing campaign that stressed partnerships—entitled the ‘BE Partnership’ —Bright Employment could build trust among service providers and migrant communities directly resulting in more jobs.

The in-depth research, analysis and communication of business opportunity from the UTS students provided both valuable insight and helped us to better understand our business. The work undertaken by the students at UTS has helped Bright Employment to lay the foundations for a successful future.

- Tim Davies, Chairman and CEO, Bright Hospitality