They’re the sorts of jobs that will buy a new car or secure a mortgage and one of the biggest employers on the Sunshine Coast has 65 of them on offer.
Insurance success story Youi is looking to fill dozens of full-time positions over the next three weeks.
The recruitment drive has been spurred by increasing demand for insurance during the pandemic and is good news for anyone seeking an all-too-elusive permanent job on the Coast.
The positions offered are in sales, customer service and claims at the company’s Sippy Downs headquarters.
Youi chief operating officer Peter Broome said that although there was always some movement in the workforce, the labour push was mainly necessary to accommodate growth.
“We’re finding that enquiry is increasing. People have more time to spend looking at their insurance,” Mr Broome said.
“During the pandemic, with a lot of people buying items like boats and caravans and things like that, they all need insurance,” he said.
Mr Broome said the size of Youi’s workforce was very much governed by the number of incoming phone calls as the company aimed to answer at least 95 per cent of phone calls within 20 seconds.
He said Youi currently employed about 1300 people, of which about 1100 were on the Sunshine Coast and the remainder at regional and interstate centres as well as in South Africa and New Zealand.
The company has become one of the biggest employers on the Sunshine Coast since it was launched by South African financial services group FirstRand in 2008.
Within a year or two, it employed more than 100 staff and quickly outgrew its first office at the junction of Beach Road and Duporth Avenue, Maroochydore, expanding to Evans Street.
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Another move to larger premises at Kawana followed and then in 2009, Youi’s then 900 staff moved to a purpose-built facility at Sippy Downs.
“It’s a fantastic company and to have a business like this on the Sunshine Coast, where people want to live, is fantastic,” Mr Broome said.
Stacey Rudduck started with Youi 10 months ago as a customer service advisor after being made redundant from her job as a wedding and events planner because of COVID.
She had no prior experience but decided to give it a go after three people recommended it.
With a daughter to support, she appreciates the full-time income and intends to make the most of opportunities to progress her career.
“As long as you have the right attitude and are willing to work, they’re willing to help,” Stacey said.
“They train and support you while you’re learning the whole process. I’m 10 months in and I’m still being supported. They’re helping me get to that next step.”
Stacey said she believed her previous employment had been of benefit because it was very customer focused and involved talking to people.
“It helps if you’ve got the gift of the gab – being able to talk to customers, not just about insurance. I’ve had lots of car recommendations and Netflix recommendations.”
Stacey said there were also employee benefits such as access to an on-site barber, beauty services, and even bicycles to ride during lunch breaks.
Mr Broome said the company was open to employing people of any age and career background but it was important that they shared a focus on customer service.
“They’ve come from such diverse lifestyles – real estate, teaching. There’s such a big variety of individuals and people of all different age groups,” he said.
“We don’t have a cookie cutter approach. It’s all about the individual and their ability to talk to people and take on the training,”
Mr Broome said there were always opportunities for advancement and building a career within the company as it tended to promote internally.
“We have seen a lot of people moving out of frontline roles and because they’ve accumulated experience, they’ve moved into other supervisor roles,” he said.
For more information about jobs at Youi, go to http://www.youi.com.au/about-us/careers.
