Meet some of our valued staff members…

Kate is a busy single mum to three children, and has been away from the workforce while her kids were small. 

She hates struggling to make ends meet on Centrelink payments, and would prefer to work and earn her own living. 

She takes a job as “Cleaning Hygiene Operator” with BioGiene cleaning crew – she works at night for BioGiene, leaving her kids sleep at home while watched closely by Grandma.  Kate is still available to do the school drop-off and pickup, and help with homework, but she sleeps through the day.  She loves living and working in a more regional town where she knows her neighbors, and can afford to rent a bigger house with yard for her children.

Over the past few COVID years, Kate has appreciated the camaraderie and support she’s received from her colleagues, as well as the BioGiene management team

Bruce has always hated school, so when he graduated from high school, he knew that attending further education was not for him. He lives in a rural area, and most of his friends found work in the coal mining industry. 

Bruce found the mining jobs were highly competitive, with overcomplicated and unrealistic medical requirements. He took a role with BioGiene, initially so he could save up for a car, but found that learning his role on the job, combined with the ‘hands-on’ approach was far more effective that his time at school.  This has afforded him an opportunity to progress to a step-up Leading Hand role. During the past few years, he’s enjoyed the job security and certainty that has carried him through the COVID period, while so many people around him were stood down, or ended up receiving Centrelink payments.

Bruce is loving the physical requirements of his role, and enjoys the workout while he’s at work!  With his experience as a step-up leading hand, he has been asked to be a key anchor in a startup crew that’s setting up a new site on the other side of the country. 

Akmed is new to Australia, having fled military conflict in his home country.  His schooling was interrupted and basic, and he’s still learning to speak English fluently.  He wants to work hard, and support his family, and he loves that BioGiene has given him this opportunity.

On commencement with BioGiene, he was fully trained to perform his job effectively, and completed all inductions, work instructions and risk assessments to ensure he was competently trained.  Now that he works nightshift, he is available during the day to attend adult-education classes, and work on his English language skills.

When Akmed’s probationary employment period finishes, he plans to apply for a transfer to another facility interstate so he can see more of his new country and assist with his permanent residency application.

John and Jenny have been married for thirty years now, and have spent much of their life together running a local business. They had children while they were quite young, raised them well, and all three of their children have moved closer to the city for work or study. Their eldest now has kids of her own!

While both John and Jenny could choose to retire on a government pension, neither of them are quite ready to give up working yet.  Since they’re still physically fit and active, they both applied for roles with BioGiene, at their local facility.

Since it’s a seasonal fruit processing site, they’re able to take a break between December and February, which gives them plenty of time to spend with their grandkids during the holidays. Best of all, they love working together!

Grant is in his early twenties, and has been pursuing his sporting career ever since high school.  Young and fit, he loves his rugby and is training hard for the State Rugby team – but his sporting doesn’t pay his bills.  He works the night shift with BioGiene, which allows him to attend his afternoon team training, as well as the morning gym session with his team mates before he goes to sleep. The physical nature of his BioGiene role works well with his active lifestyle, and he’s still free on the weekends to go fishing or catchup with friends.

Before COVID, many of our workforce were visa workers, with simple English skills.  BioGiene may have been their first exposure to Australian or New Zealand workplaces and employment conditions. Many of our roles are entry-level, so well-suited to beginners.  All training is provided on the job, procedures and expectations are well documented and discussed in detail.  An individual may rapidly progress into higher level roles with more responsibility.