Boost for on-the-job learning

Employers, educators and regulators begin a two-day conference today aimed at lifting levels of learning in the workplace.

The Developing the Skills for Growth conference is being run by the Employers and Manufacturers Association, and aims to build alliances to improve the quality and accessibility of workplace learning, and ensure programmes fit Government reforms and consumer and business needs.

Last month, the EMA publicised a Labour Department skill shortages report showing 12 per cent of businesses nominated unskilled labour as their major growth constraint.

Manufacturers in the Auckland region were especially hard hit, 43 per cent reporting increasing difficulty in finding skilled labour.