As Perth rental vacancy rate drops below 1%, employers are thinking outside the box and looking to fill positions with candidates who aren’t all hung up on having a traditional home to live in.
A Perth-based contractor battling with skills shortages found an ideal candidate that wanted to leave the hustle & bustle of Melbourne for the sunny shores of WA.
Updating his backyard listing on AirBNB the boss of the contracting firm told The Times,
“We ask the same questions of every candidate now. Are your ears painted on? Do you have shitfabrains? And finally, how do you feel about camping cos you’re sure as shit not going to snag a rental”
He added that he was looking for about 4-6 highly skilled tradesmen and had enough backyard room for them all, adding,
“I’ll take about $200 a week out of their salary which is a bargain when you look at what some people are paying for not much more. Then I can keep an eye on my workforce all the time, some of these guys have done FIFO so they’ll be used to that anyway”
Responses have been mixed. One avid outdoorsman said that when he was deciding to move to Perth he already accounted for the fact that a traditional 4 wall lifestyle was off the cards,
“Some might see it as a hard sell – move to WA for work but good luck finding somewhere to live. However, I see it as a challenge. End of the day, I see nothing weird about sleeping in my boss’s backyard and then spending my weekends going toe to toe with hundreds of despo renters at inspections each weekend. Sounds like a party”
A top recruiter told The Times that there has been an expression of interest from over east due to our affordable gas & lettuce situation. Alas, many successful candidates may not make the most of that whole deal. Adding,
“We tell them, you’ll have plenty of time to shove lettuce in your face while you try to keep warm in a tent you are paying someone $200 a night to sleep in. Wouldn’t count on getting the luxury to sign up to an account for our sweet, sweet gas though”
No doubt we will shortly have a stampede of workers from over east. Unable to resist the joys of living in their employer’s backyard.
Documenting the Human Zoo is thirsty work, so if you enjoyed what you read how about buying Belle a beer, ay?
