Regional employment recommended for state services workers

The review found the TSS was being held back by its existing design, with limited capacity in many areas making it difficult to share capability across the service.

The report said the TSS was too siloed and too rigid in structure and set out 77 recommendations including three directly relating to promoting and managing flexible working arrangements, increasing consistency and facilitating regional employment. Recommendation 62 called for the Department of Premier and Cabinet to prepare a business case for developing regional offices as a priority.

READ MORE: Man dies in fatal Bass Highway crash

Northern Tasmania Development Corporation chief executive Mark Baker (pictured) said he supported the recommendation.

"We definitely support decentralisation of public service, for a long time they had been headquartered in Hobart due to the need to be in and around department portfolios and ministers, '' he said.

"With greater advances in technology for working from home, we certainly see the opportunities to allow those state service workers to spread out around the region."

Mr Baker said the economic development and population growth was a significant factor for the North and that an uptake in skilled workers entering the region was also a benefit that should be considered.

READ MORE: More direct flights touching down in Launceston

Business North West president Ian Jones said the North needed more representation in Hobart.

"We need more representation of this region back in the South of the state, and if we can get more jobs that's great, but just to have more input into what goes on in the state public service is important," he said.

"What we find is that there's a lot of government in the South of the state and there's not a lot of empathy for the North-West Coast. It would be really good to have people living in the North-West Coast representing the North-West Coast back in those government departments," he said.

READ MORE: Gutwein denies power play with Hydro Tasmania

He said with COVID-19 forcing businesses to change how they operate, there was no reason why government positions shouldn't be made statewide.

"The pandemic has proven that remote working is more than possible and a lot of people actually prefer it, and I think the fact is that when jobs are advertised they should be advertised statewide," he said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Follow us on Google News: The Examiner