Mandurah Taxis working to boost employment and job pathways

The Mandurah owned business said they had provided jobs for six people over the past 12 months by working with employment services such as ORS Group and Bizlink, which finds jobs for people with disabilities.

Mandurah Taxis general manager Julie Murray said the company believed everyone should have an opportunity to be employed and enjoy the benefits work provides for individuals and communities.

She said it was inspiring to see people become happier and more self-confident by doing a job they enjoyed.

“It’s really tough to find a job at the moment, even part time jobs for students are scarce so we need to help as many people as we can gain the skills they need to get into the workforce,” Ms Murray said.

“We get people with all sorts of different skills and they might not necessarily be skills that relate directly to our business, but when you talk to people you find they have other skills of benefit to your business and can help the team.”

Michael Sorrell, who had worked in the transport industry for thirty years before suffering a spinal injury, said it wasn’t happy without a job, so worked hard to find the kind of work he could do.

“I was put out to pasture and it took me a good eight months before I found out about Bizlink,” he said.

“I went looking for work after a spinal fusion, but being put out to pasture was doing my head in.

“I just wasn’t going to sit for that, it’s not my style. I wanted to work.”

Mr Sorrell said the lesson for people trying to find work is to really be persistent.

“It took me a lot of chasing to try to find somewhere that could help me,” he said.

“You’ve got to chase it and you’ve got to find something.

“You can’t just sit around and let the world pass you by, that’s the way I saw it.”

Ms Murray said Mandurah Taxis had also provided training opportunities to 14 students over the past year and is always looking for taxi drivers to join their team.