The booming health care sector is cementing the Sunshine Coast as a skilled-employment hot spot, with new data highlighting the region’s annual employment growth of 5.8 per cent 1 – four per cent higher than the state average – with the health care and social services industry now the largest employer in the region 2.
One community which has noticed an increase in the number of health workers moving in, is Harmony by AVID Property Group – a residential community in Palmview – which currently already has one-in-ten households working within the health industry.
A major factor in the wave of skilled professionals is the strong pipeline of health-related infrastructure projects on the Coast, including the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital and Sunshine Coast Health Institute which has seen professionals from Queensland, Australia and internationally move to the region.
One of these skilled professionals, Tanja White a phlebotomist at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, just moved into Harmony with her husband Lewis and their two primary school aged sons and said living close to work had made it easier for her to commute to and from the health precinct.
“While we’ve only been living here for just a week, it has made it so much easier to jump on the motorway – it takes just over 10 minutes to get to work now,” Mrs White said.
“I’ve been working at the hospital for the past two years and over that time I have seen an increase in the number of people moving in around the precinct, but it’s just not for me.
“Living at Harmony means we have some balance between family and work life, especially with parks just outside our front door we can spend more time as a family outdoors.”
Rising employment numbers across the Coast has seen the population soar, with the region forecasted to grow to 345,782 people by 2021 and to more than 386,600 people by 2026 – an average increase of 8,000 people per year 3.
AVID General Manager Queensland Bruce Harper said many working Australians were drawn to the Sunshine Coast, its growing regional economy and the coastal lifestyle that comes with the address.
“The Sunshine Coast economy is going from strength to strength, with local employment growth outpacing many other regions in Australia and a significant level of investment into new infrastructure helping to service the expanding population,” Mr Harper said.
“Harmony is AVID’s response to the booming economy – providing a residential community in the heart of the Sunshine Coast that offers ease-of-access to new infrastructure projects like the new health precinct and future CBD.
“What’s more, the community is just a short drive from future schools, shops and of course the beaches the region is famous for.”
To meet the increasing demand for housing on the Coast, AVID Property Group – the developer behind Harmony – has brought forward its release of an additional 18 blocks of land in its Unity neighbourhood, only weeks after its previous release of land sold out.
For more information on the growing community at the heart of the Sunshine Coast visit www.harmonyliving.com.au.
1 https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/3426/regional-labour-force-201912-region-summary.pdf
2 https://economy.id.com.au/sunshine-coast/employment-by-industry
3 https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Experience-Sunshine-Coast/Statistics-and-Maps/Population-Growth
