Skill Seekers Marlborough’s skills shortage bites SOPHIE PREECE
EIGHTY-FIVE percent of Marlborough’s employers have permanent job vacancies, and 80% of them say they are difficult, very difficult or impossible to fill. Those are some of the startling numbers in from a cross sector recruitment survey sent out by Wine Marlborough earlier this year, says advocacy manager Vance Kerslake. “Anecdotally, most people knew we had a shortage of labour and that it was difficult to recruit roles. But I don’t think anyone really understood how big the problem was. Or that it applies across the board, from technical roles to labour.” The survey was sent to employers in a range of Marlborough industries,
Marlborough industries to work together to tackle labour and skills shortage. Photo Richard Briggs
including forestry, aquaculture and tourism, and drew responses from 55 employers, with a total of 3,757 employees, across a dozen industries. Vance says one of the biggest surprises for him was the number of employers who said they simply could not fill roles, including 27% who said technical positions remained unfilled. “If your company needs one of those that’s probably quite a key role,” says Vance. Three quarters (76%) said one of their two biggest challenges was not getting applications from people with the right skills, while 40% had found people with the right skills, without the right visa. The problem is only going to
get worse, with employment set to grow by 2% across New Zealand by 2020, but by 3.4% in Marlborough (From MBIE short term employment forecast 2017-2020). Vance says the challenge is a huge one for the wine industry and others, but there is an appetite for a cross sector approach to better attract and retain staff. “Everyone from industry and training organisations, to council and government is keen to do something about it.” To see the full survey results go to the news page at www.winemarlborough.co.nz/
Smarter Skill Seeking The Marlborough District Council has launched its ninth regional Smart+Connected programme to address labour and skills shortages in the region. The initiative will draw on knowledge, insights and experience from people involved in labour and skills, including schools, training organisations, employers, and government agencies. Council strategic planning and economic development manager Neil Henry says it is about better understanding “who is doing what, what is working and what could be improved”, when it comes to training, retaining and attracting skills and labour in the region. “The process should also identify opportunities for collaboration between the many parties involved in labour and skills in Marlborough.” Smart+Connected (S+C) has been used by council for the past five years to bring together nine industry and community groups to plan and deliver on co-designed strategies. Wine Marlborough advocacy manager Vance Kerslake says using it to tackle labour and skills shortages is an exciting development for the wine industry, and for
16 / Winepress December 2018
other employers who struggle to fill vacancies. At the first meeting of the project’s establishment group, which included representatives from several education and training organisations, as well as employers and Immigration New Zealand representatives, Vance released results from the recent recruitment survey (see main story). Eighty-five percent of Marlborough’s employers have permanent job vacancies, and 80% of them say they are difficult, very difficult or impossible to fill, he told the group. “That’s why I think the Smart + Connected approach is such a great opportunity,” he says. “We are all doing something on our own, or think that we needed to do something and not quite sure what it should be. Coming together for collective impact means the whole can be more than the sum of its parts.” Business Lab’s Colin Bass, who facilitates the S+C programme, says the initiative will look to build on existing projects. “It is about supercharging efforts and being innovative,” he says.
