Veronika’s Challenge
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Businesses battle for staff
ānaka businesses are feeling a different manager, painter, solicitor, chef, architectural graduate and an acupuncturist. fill job vacancies. The Wānaka Chamber of Commerce is hoping New World Three Parks is advertising multiple the recent announcement on visas for migrant vacancies and your own Wānaka Sun has been workers will help. advertising without success for a journalist and At the end of September, the Government senior editorial leader. announced a one-off residence pathway enabling Sun owner Aaron Heath says he is experiencing the a significant number of work visa holders to remain in New Zealand permanently. same problem in filling vacancies in his pharmacy. Naomi Lindsay, General Manager at Ignite A search on the digital job finder Seek this Wānaka, believes the announcement will help week revealed 81 listings for Wānaka. The roles included real estate positions, check businesses keep hold of migrant employees, who out operators, a café team leader and customer would normally move on if borders were open. But she said without any certainty on borders service rep for BP, a foreman for a major project, journalists, receptionists, carpenters, a retail or alert levels it was hard to tell what the market
W pinch from Covid – they are struggling to
may look like at Christmas. Wānaka is reliant on seasonal workers during busier times for a range of industries, but certain sectors seem to be consistent victims worldwide due to travel restrictions and the intimate nature of venues. Attracting staff to Wānaka has also been made more difficult because of the shortage – and cost – of accommodation. It’s not all bad news. Josh Byrne, Owner of Lake Bar on Ardmore Street said he had retained a lot of good staff over the past year. “Surprisingly we are getting more work inquiries from university students for the coming
summer, which we haven’t seen for a few years. This could be due to limited opportunities outside this area.” He said the New Zealand hospitality businesses had become over reliant on minimum wages. “With the tight labour market and a lack of international tourism, pressures appear to be mounting on the industry.” He believed last year’s Covid fall out created more uncertainty. As some Australian borders set to reopen, with tentative dates set for November and December, Wānaka will be hoping for an influx of holiday makers - and workers. – By Aimee Owens
Flying high
Wānaka’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has been named joint Snow Sports NZ Overall Athlete of the Year. Who shared the award with her? See story Page 2.
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