Skills lack hamstrings machinery exporter

Rotorua-based machinery maker Hayes International has won an $8.7 million contract in India but is being held back by skill shortages.

General manager Mike Lowe said yesterday that the company had advertised locally and nationally for workers without luck and was now eyeing the Opportunities New Zealand Expo in London this year to lure staff.

He said the problems his company and many others were facing was endemic to the country - and limiting growth.

The firm employed about 100 people in Rotorua, with another 20 in China and eight in Britain.

Having won a contract in India for roll-forming machinery used in steel production, the company was looking to expand.

"We need to run two shifts to meet the global demand. We have 100 people in the day shift and only three on the afternoon."

Lowe said the company was looking for enough staff to make the afternoon shift viable, which could include taking on 20 or so staff in the next year.

"We are a leading exporter. The only thing that is limiting us is that we can't build the machines quick enough."

The Indian contract is expected to be the first of several new projects.

- NZPA