Kiwifruit industry growing at a rapid pace

As the kiwifruit industry grows, so does the demand for staff. Photo/supplied

More Work and Income clients in the Bay of Plenty shifted off benefits and into seasonal kiwifruit work this year - a move the department hopes will continue to gather momentum as they strengthen relationships with partners in the region.

The main kiwifruit harvest is over but industry experts say it is growing at a rapid pace and will need additional employees in the future.

Key industry statistics supplied by New Zealand Kiwifruit Inc showed employment growth was expected to increase by 4740 seasonal staff by 2019 and 420 full-time staff over the same timeframe.

The report said there were 9800 permanent employees in the industry and 8600 seasonal employees, including 1500 that were part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme.

The Bay of Plenty had 2905 registered orchards covering 11,235 productive hectares and 2540 growers, while Zespri global sales hit $1.5 billion in 2014/15.

WINZ Bay of Plenty regional commissioner Mike Bryant said about 2251 people moved off benefits in the Bay of Plenty at the end of May 2015 to take seasonal work opportunities - about 700 more than last season.

Traditionally the majority of its clients did seasonal work in the packhouses but it also wanted to target jobs on orchards, as that type of employment was likely to last longer, he said.

"Harvesting and pruning and those types of jobs have more lengthy periods of work. You can actually get up to 46 weeks, which is almost fulltime, where the packhouses are three months or less."

However, that was often a challenge because the work was done through contractors, he said.

"That makes it a bit more difficult in terms of heading up employment relationships, so we have been doing a few things like industry partnerships."

It had entered into about 12 partnerships where WINZ worked with the employer, supplied support, funding and pre-employment or on the job training, he said.

"As the person gets more skilled they are taken on as full-time employees."

Another initiative it launched this season was the New Zealand RSE scheme, where 50 people from Tokoroa, Taupo and Murupara were accommodated in the Bay for seasonal employment.

"It has worked well but it still had a few issues but we hope there will be more employers keen to take it on next season."

The biggest task ahead was making sure it got the right match on people it recommended for the kiwifruit industry, he said.

Neil Trebilco, president of NZ Kiwifruit Growers. Photo/file

"It is not always easy because it is quite a big industry and there are lots of individual employers that have all different needs. Some of the people that get seasonal work end up getting other jobs ... it is a great catalyst for them but it does create some problems.

"So it's working out a way to continue to educate people that haven't been involved in the industry before."

NZKGI chief executive Mike Chapman said the MSD programmes were important and needed to be expanded.

"The industry needs more skilled workers as our volumes grow."

It had undertaken key initiative to address the supply of labour at all levels as fruit volumes increased, he said.

Extensive work had been done in 2014 to promote horticulture as a career, retain industry talent and grow the seasonal labour resource.

A seasonal work video was created to demonstrated the variety of seasonal work available to individuals who had no knowledge of the kiwifruit industry and supplied to Work and Income sites in growing regions.

While it had facilitated industry partnerships, where nine employers had engaged in nine partnerships with Work and Income and had trained 65 people which resulted in about 50 being employed in permanent on-orchard roles.

President Neil Treblico said there were a lot of opportunities in the industry and some great careers.

Youth into Work:
This is an initiative to address the labour shortage in the kiwifruit industry by upskilling unemployed individuals.
The MInistry for Social Development subsidises a 12 week pre-employment training programme, where participants gain basic skills and are then guaranteed 46-48 weeks of work a year with compliant operators.
Opportunities were available for further study in horticulture.
There are 16 industry partnerships where 115 people have been trained with 75 of those remaining in employment.
- New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc.