YOUR INDUSTRY
NZKGI Labour Coordinator Gavin Stagg distributing copies of NZKGI’s Little Green and Gold book to an accommodation provider
NZKGI Labour Attraction Strategy helps kiwifruit industry complete record harvest A focused three-year strategy to attract and recruit seasonal labour has paid dividends for New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (NZKGI). Supplied NZKGI has invested strongly in a structured Labour Attraction Strategy (LAS) in the years following the 2018 harvest which kicked off with a shortage of around 1,250 workers, says labour coordinator Gavin Stagg. A focus on developing and implementing new ways to attract workers both here and overseas averted a similar shortage in 2019, says Gavin. “We also prepared well for 2020, even when Covid-19 deprived the industry of a significant overseas element of workers. Then this year we pivoted again, working with 34
The ORCHARDIST : AUGUST 2021
the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to find Kiwi workers. As a result, so far we have been able to avoid any significant failure to harvest our crop – and the industry has delivered bumper totals of fruit.” Gavin says the core component of the LAS has been to ensure the industry provides the best information on the roles available, pay rates and conditions, and develops strong channels to get the information to potential workers. “That involved establishing an expanded social media
