THOMAS Foods International has moved to double shifts at its Lobethal facility, creating 340 news jobs.
This comes in the wake of a fire at its Murray Bridge plant earlier this month.
TFI chief executive officer Darren Thomas said the announcement was a “major step forward” in their recovery.
It comes alongside the creation of about 150 new positions at the Tamworth, NSW, facility, with another 70 short-term positions also to be created at Lobethal.
Mr Thomas said the new jobs were part of the company's push to support the 900 regular staff who were left without jobs after the fire.
While there had initially been talk of 1400 people left jobless, Mr Thomas said many of these were seasonal workers and, as such, had already moved on to other roles in other locations.
Of the 900 remaining, he said some had also found other employment, while 90 still remain on-site at Murray Bridge in parts of the plant unaffected by the fire.
Mr Thomas said the company would continue to support all staff in some fashion, even past the original announced two week paid leave period.
He said there may even be opportunities to develop training packages to upskill some workers in this interim period.
“There will only be so many jobs that I can create in a short-time... but I will be lobbying the state and federal government,” he said.
He said whatever solutions were developed would need to be suitable for the medium to long-term.
“This won’t be solved in six weeks time,” he said.
Workers from Murray Bridge who choose to take up the option will have access to a bus service.
Mr Thomas said the Lobethal site operated under a different industrial agreement to that of Murray Bridge, meaning some workers may not be on the same wages.
The new shifts at Lobethal will begin from Monday with a staged process and growth expected with numbers increased until shift capacity is realised.
Adelaide Hills Council mayor Bill Spragg said the local council at Lobethal saw this a way to help the economy for the region and the state, as well as supporting those lamb producers who supplied to TFI.
Cattle will be processed elsewhere.
He said the council would be working with TFI to ensure the growth was a smooth process, including the potential approval of B-double vehicles on the Adelaide Hills roads.
“Thomas Foods will have an application for an extra coolroom and an extension to their carpark, which we see as development and the council will work to expedite that to make sure it will happen as quickly as possible,” he said.
“The B-double route, which has been explored by the state government will come into effect earlier than it would have otherwise, we’ve been working with (the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure) to make sure it is safe.”
He said the council had also reduced the speed limit on the main road delivering stock to the Lobethal site to ensure safety for the community.
Mr Thomas has also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to rebuild in Murray Bridge but said it was too early to commit to a timeline, saying it may take 12 or 24 months for the plant to be fully-functional again.
He said the family was very thankful for the support from all members of the community and all stages of government as it worked through the process.
