We love hearing how people come to work with Regional Workforce Management (RWM), and for German backpackers Joern, Linus and Lauris that was via a Facebook comment on one of our trending social media posts and they decided to reach out on the spot. Three weeks after landing in Australia, still finding their feet and not having had much luck with job searches, that comment ended up shaping their entire experience here.

"There were so many fake jobs circulating on Facebook at the time, so we were cautious," Joern recalled. "But we reached out to RWM, who told us they had roles available for backpackers in Queensland. We were in Melbourne at the time so RWM organised our flight to Brisbane as well as a train from Brisbane airport to Maryborough, then someone to pick us up when we got there. Once we heard how straightforward it all was, we just trusted the process and it worked out."

The three of them had just finished high school in Germany and were 19 to 21 years old when they arrived. They were on Working Holiday Visas and wanted to fund their own adventure and were willing to work hard to do it – that’s exactly the kind of people we genuinely enjoy supporting into work. 

Working in regional Queensland

Landing in a new country is one thing. Landing in regional Queensland with no local contacts and starting work in a leading meat processing facility within weeks of arrival is another thing entirely. That is exactly what Joern, Linus and Lauris did and they took on the journey without hesitation.

We placed them at a meat processing facility, in regional central Queensland in November 2025 and from day one they threw themselves into it. The work was physical and for three young men who had been working casual jobs alongside their final year of school in Germany, it was a different step up into the Australian workforce. 

After four weeks their positions came to an end and when that happens, our priority is making sure our employees are not left without a next step or plan in place. By the end of their contracts with this client, RWM’s recruitment team already had something else in mind for them and were glad to be able to keep all three together through the move.

"It was hard work, but we came here to work and knowing that RWM had our backs if things changed made it a lot easier to just get on with it," Joern said.

A contract transition and a change to routine

We helped transition Joern, Linus and Lauris to another leading meat processing facility in Kilcoy, Queensland in December 2025 and the three gentlemen immediately settled in. Supportive teams and a diverse team of colleagues from Australia and all over the world meant they settled in quickly and found a sense of routine that worked well for all of them while they travelled. 

“The supervisors were really friendly and everyone was happy,” said Joern. “We started at 5am and finished at the same time each day. We couldn’t have found a better job, it fit perfectly with our plans, giving us time to go to the beach and spend time with friends.”

They worked four days a week, picked up extra shifts when they were available and hit their savings goal within about two months. Having bought a car together early on, they also made the most of their days off with beach trips, coastal drives and camping when the weather allowed.

One of the things we hear most from backpackers is that flexibility matters to them deeply, because they are not just here to work, they are here to see Australia and build memories along the way. In late February we supported Joern, Linus and Lauris in taking a month off to travel and they drove from Kilcoy all the way up to Cairns before returning to finish off their placement. They are now preparing to head home to Germany and are already talking about coming back, which we think is about the best endorsement there is.

What they valued most working with RWM

Being placed in roles with structure, having the ability to move when a placement came to an end and having a team they could reach throughout the process all mattered more than they had anticipated.

"What you guys are doing, putting people into different industries, is really good," Joern shared. "Backpackers have a safe job and if you don't want to stay at one company after three months, you can ask to move. That flexibility is great."

Joern also reflected on what it meant to find RWM the way they did. Coming from Germany, where job seeking tends to follow more formal channels, discovering a recruiter through a Facebook comment and being welcomed warmly from the first message was something he did not expect. That accessibility, the fact that RWM shows up in the places backpackers are and communicates in a way that feels human rather than transactional, is something he now sees as one of the things that set the experience apart from the very beginning.

What does this flexibility mean for our clients?

Joern, Linus and Lauris arrived with no Australian work experience and within weeks were reliable, committed members of a processing team, and that is not an unusual outcome for the people we place. Backpackers who come through RWM are motivated, they have made a deliberate choice to work hard and they integrate well into seasonal team environments, often forming friendships across cultures that last long after the placement ends.

We handle the recruitment, screening, visas and compliance, safety checks and the ongoing support so your team does not have to spend additional time and money on seasonal labour, and because we stay involved throughout each placement, small issues can be resolved and supported before they become larger ones. The people we place have made a deliberate choice to be here, to work hard and to make the most of their time in Australia, and that shows up in the teams we supply our clients with.