Forestry has trees but not the trainees

By LIAM DANN

The number of people working in forestry needs to double if New Zealand is to cope with the expected surge in log numbers, says Forest Industries Training chief executive John Blakey.

The industry was gearing up to recruit 30,000 more workers by 2025, he said.

"We are lucky in that at least we know how big our problem is - the trees are already in the ground."

Forestry Industries is the largest industry training organisation in the country and is funded by both the Government and the private sector.

It co-ordinates training for more than 12,000 people in all aspects of forestry, from the planting and harvesting of trees to processing wood products.

Blakey said that although the demand for skilled workers was increasing every year, the industry had some breathing space in the short term.

Economic factors such as low commodity prices were causing a slowdown in log harvesting.

But that would change and the industry had to be ready for an explosion in demand, he said.

On the plus side, there was a mini population boom, or "baby blip", nearing working age, which would help if some of those people could be recruited.

The key was to break down stereotypes and show young people who were keen to work outdoors that they would not be locked into semi-skilled, repetitive jobs.

"We need to show them there is a career path."

With that in mind, the organisation was targeting schools and universities, promoting the idea that if students wanted to get into marketing or IT they could do it in the forestry industry.

"If they want to be chief executive of a top company, they should look to do that in forestry," Blakey said.

The sector had also been one of the most responsive in its uptake of the Government's new Modern Apprentices scheme.

Last year, Forestry Industries had 427 workers in the scheme, the largest number administered by any industry training organisation.

Blakey said Forestry Industries was moving its head office from Rotorua to Auckland so that staff were based in a transport hub and could be more accessible to the rest of the country.