In the midst of a Covid-19 pandemic, Tauranga is growing jobs at a faster rate than the rest of New Zealand. Figures reveal a whopping 42 per cent increase in job listings. Carmen Hall investigates, finding an underbelly of intense competition where poaching is rife and companies are re-examining how
Tauranga is growing jobs at a faster rate than the rest of the country, but why?
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''I like it because it's hands-on.''
Wallace, who opened another store in Whakatāne on Wednesday, said Gregg had grown in confidence, and his problem-solving and ability to think outside the box was impressive.
''He also has a nice smile and the customers love him.''
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Wallace is a former school teacher and has taken some of that philosophy into his business.
''I just want to see Teagan and my other staff do well in life. They are all very talented.''
Gregg's path to employment was an example of how employers and agencies across the region were trying to address the labour shortage and lower the unemployment rate.
At the peak of an Omicron pandemic, Tauranga is experiencing a jobs boom.
Trade Me Jobs sales director Matt Tolich said according to its latest quarterly report for 2021 Tauranga had a 42 per cent increase in job listings compared to the same period the year before.
The largest percentage increases in the type of job listings in Tauranga were for those in office and administration, which was up 101per cent, engineering, up 81per cent, and sales categories, up 71 per cent.
The most popular job in Q4 2021 in Tauranga was a "Satisfying Admin & Social Role" that was viewed more than 3457 times.
Tolich said a survey last month found 33 per cent of respondents would consider moving to the Bay of Plenty, making it the most popular New Zealand region to relocate to, followed by Canterbury.
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"Nearly 60 per cent of Kiwis are keeping an eye out for a new job or would be open to a role if the opportunity came up.''
Data showed that at the end of last month there were 19,218 people in the Bay of Plenty on job seeker support. By the end of the last financial year, 11,000 people had moved off benefits and into work.
In Tauranga at the end of December, 4138 people cancelled their benefits to go into jobs.
A Statistics New Zealand spokeswoman said its Household Labour Force Survey showed for the December quarter it estimated there were about 2100 unemployed in Tauranga which was a rate of about 2.4 per cent while the national average was 3.2 per cent.
40,000 new jobs in Tauranga in next 30 years
Tauranga is growing jobs at a faster rate than the rest of the country.
Priority One chief operating officer Greg Simmonds said the population was ageing so the proportion of working-age people was lower.
''There's a mismatch between what people are choosing to study and future job creation and our cost of living is relatively high.''
There were about 100,000 jobs in Tauranga at the moment and the economic development organisation expected another 40,000 jobs to be created in the next 30 years.
The good news was Tauranga's economy had diversified which meant these jobs would be across a range of sectors including health and education, construction/trades, professional, managerial and technology, and agriculture, he said.
The jobs being created were also more skilled which would help lift average incomes.
Priority One was involved with Ara Rau – Pathways to Work, a skills and employment hub that was a key part of its regional workforce strategy.
The hub, co-funded by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, had been running for a year.
It worked with employers and job seekers to develop relationships. There was also a focus on supporting young people who were not studying, or training and were unemployed.
In the past year, it had engaged with more than 1200 job-seekers and helped more than 200 of those into training and employment.
Ara Rau was focussing on the construction and infrastructure sector and worked with several large employers. It was also working closely with several iwi and hapu to support rangatahi Māori into sustainable employment pathways, he said.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said employers were struggling, especially public organisations competing with the private sector which inflated wages.
Omicron had also made it incredibly difficult for those businesses reliant on key staff, he said.
''Many have explored options but have realised they're forced to close. That results in no turnover, but they are using their personal savings to cover overheads.''
'It's crazy': Job recruitment agents on market and Covid
"Diabolical" and "crazy".
That is how 1st Call Recruitment managing director Phill van Syp described the job market despite people isolating because of Omicron.
''We are 30 per cent down on turnover compared to the same time last year (due to Omicron) but once people get out of quarantine we will be back to smashing it. It's diabolical but we just have to suck it up and get on with it.''
Van Syp said there were so many jobs from ''top to bottom''.
Roading, infrastructure, administration, manufacturing and construction were screaming out for staff.
Ryan + Alexander associate consultant Lynda Stewart said finance and engineering roles were the hardest to fill.
''There were a lot of finance roles filled in the second half of 2021 which has left a shortage in the market, and filling engineering positions has been a long-time challenge locally as there isn't a lot of movement once employees find the role that's right for them.''
There had been an increase in wages across most sectors, particularly in the temporary space with companies seeing the benefit in paying temporary staff well.
Some employers were getting videographers to make videos showcasing their workplace, business, and happy employees.
"No way businesses that have retrenched during hard times will be able to attract the same talent"
New Zealand was ranked in the top three for productivity in the 1980s in the OECD.
"We have now dropped to the bottom quartile'."
Productivity People managing director Geerten Lengkeek said there was a lack of innovation and automation - many firms that had not looked at measuring and improving their productivity often had efficiencies around 30 to 50 per cent.
Other businesses that made productivity their competitive advantage often ran at 80 to 90 per cent efficient.
In his view, New Zealand did not have ''a labour shortage but more an interesting jobs shortage''.
''Organisations that do people productivity well do not suffer from the 'great resignation' and even in the downturns and Covid lockdowns, these firms have continued employment contracts rather than taking a short-term view of letting people go to reduce costs.
''There is no way businesses that have retrenched during hard times will ever be able to attract the same talent when things pick up and additional staff is needed. Firms that have a strong social contract with their teams are repaid that investment by supportive staff with superior performance and, in turn, become industry leaders.''
The others won't fill roles or will be forced to accept staff of mediocre ability and motivation, she said.
''Rather than waste breath on blaming external factors such as closed borders or disinterested Kiwi workers, these firms need to learn from the best amongst us.''
''Don't try to 'cut costs towards prosperity' but create an environment where productivity is an outcome of the culture. This is true at any time, but ever more impactful in these dire times.''
Staff retention: 'In our business, supply is people'
Holland Beckett Law partner Ken Hawkes said the company was concerned about losing its biggest assets to other firms or industries and ''retaining and growing staff is the firm's number one priority''.
''Economists are reporting that businesses need to concentrate on supply rather than sales. In our business, supply is people. Without lawyers, and the teams that support them, we can't deliver legal services to our clients.''
''Looking after our staff during the 2020 lockdown was the best thing we ever did. Nobody knew how the economy was going to hold up. We took the view that we should pay staff 100 per cent during lockdown whether they could work from home or not.
''We also made sure we did the right thing by paying staff an allowance for their home office expenses. We needed their home and internet connection to run our business so it seemed fair to reimburse them for that.''
"No point in complaining about unemployment levels"
Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard said there was no point in complaining about unemployment levels, or the "employability" of some of today's job seekers.
''That will not help to solve the problem.''
However, he said according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Social Development, there were about 5000 people currently on Job Seeker benefits in Rotorua, which represented more than 10 per cent of the working-age population. That's far in excess of the 3.4 per cent national unemployment rate.
There were many good organisations already doing hard mahi, helping to get people ready for employment, and ''we are not the experts at that'', he said.
But the chamber was taking a proactive approach to the employment issue. It was helping employers [its members] to find and hire the people they needed.
Bridges To Work was jointly funded by BayTrust, Rotorua Trust and the Ministry of Social Development which invested $37,500 each.
Ministry: Most on the dole want to work
Most of those on the benefit want to work and those who struggled to get jobs found the labour market difficult to access.
That is the view of Ministry for Social Development regional commissioner Mike Bryant who said that was the reason why it was engaging with industry and employers who were prepared to support those who had traditionally struggled to connect to jobs.
Complexities for some including the seasonal labour market, availability of transport, hours, weather, childcare, accommodation and the seasonal or casual nature of the work ''means some job opportunities may not work for them''.
