Council candidate calls for Sexy Summer Jobs to be extended to include professionals looking for work.

Dunedin City Council candidate Carmen Houlahan said Sexy Summer Jobs was a great initiative. If she got on Council she would like to see it extended to include professionals looking for work as well as students, who it is currently marketed to.

“ I will push for this to be offered to not only students but people looking for work in Dunedin so that they can make contacts and add to their CV and hopefully get jobs. There are a lot of people who have great qualifications but can't get their foot in the door,” Mrs Houlahan said.

Mrs Houlahan is keen to help create more jobs in Dunedin.

“ I will work to create a city where people do not have to leave because they cannot get work.” Some of the things she would advocate for include:

•Encouraging regions to work together to come up with solutions

•Get businesses working more collaboratively in clusters

•Encourage people with venture capital to come to invest in Dunedin start-ups

•Build on Gigatown so that success stories are the norm

•Encourage sustainable business practise by looking at flexible working hours and job sharing

Yesterday she announced her plan to create a business hub for professional Mums.

Council candidate calls for a business hub to support professional Mums.

The proposal would be to create a database of names and skills of mothers and fathers that employers could tap into.

“I did my masters thesis on jobsharing and I would love to see jobsharing encouraged more, especially for parents or flexible working hours.”

She challenged the Council to think outside the box and do something different.

“ Dunedin could lead the way for other cities to follow us,” she said.

With the internet there was no reason why professional mothers could not work remotely from home or a hot desk hub could be set up in the city.

“Let’s show mothers their skills are valued. Many of them have trained for years to get their skills but often give up working because they do not want to be full time. Why should mothers or fathers who bring up their children have to choose between their children and their job? They should be able to have both and Dunedin could lead the way!

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