Navy Courts Families, Sends Troops Home For Christmas

Good news for navy families: chiefs battling a staffing crisis have taken the unprecedented step of ordering a two-month shutdown over Christmas, and have told personnel with child-care problems that they can work from home.

Due to a huge shortfall in trained personnel, the navy is trying to reinvent itself as a family friendly employer. They have ordered all ships not deployed on operations home for Christmas and will reduced the numbers of “docked” sailors, replacing them with sophisticated sensors and alarms to guard ships.

Defence troops, like most of the public service, rely on ABC Learning for child-care services for its workers. Hundreds of children of navy personnel have been affected by the collapse of the child-care giant. Local commanders have been told to make every effort to negotiate flexible working arrangements that allow families to manage their commitments at home and at work until the situation is resolved.

That’s seriously impressive. I wonder if corporates will take note?

But the measures are a result of a desperate defence force. The navy loses 11 per cent of its workforce every year and last financial year only achieved 73 per cent of its full-time recruitment targets.

The Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Crane, told SMH that, “It’s about getting a culture in place that’s about working smarter not harder, and I think we owe that to our people.

The Christmas stand-down period will run from December 3 to February 3, and will be a permanent arrangement every year.

I’m sure that will be a big relief to defence families, who I personally know struggle with the long separations the job brings.

[Source]