Reporter James Pocock asked Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about the housing situation and roading in the bay. Video HBToday.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has backed overseas workers to solve Hawke's Bay's skill shortages but says New Zealand's reputation will rest on how our employers treat them.
Ardern, who sat down for a quick chat with Hawke's Bay Today during her visit to the region on Thursday, says key Hawke'sBay industries will get extra support to find workers because unemployment is far lower than predicted following Covid lockdowns.
She said some industries were having a difficult time finding staff in Hawke's Bay, naming tourism and seafood processing as particularly hard hit.
"For those industries like tourism, seafood processing, construction, aged care, we recognise those are particularly difficult areas.
"We've worked specifically with those sectors for arrangements to try and make it easy for them," Ardern said.
"They're not having to meet, in some cases, the same thresholds as other employers because we are so focused on supporting them."
She said a major way to fill the skill shortage was to bring in workers from overseas, through working holiday visas or otherwise.
"We are turning around the issuing of those working holiday visas very quickly and so we are keeping a close eye on the uptake of them. Lots of interest, now we need them to be taken up," Ardern said.
Ardern said some industries were having a difficult time finding staff in Hawke's Bay, naming tourism and seafood processing as particularly hard hit. Photo / Warren Buckland
"We're trying to make it as easy as possible for employers and areas where we identify genuine skill shortages to bring in workers."
She said recent publicity about the treatment of Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme workers was concerning, but not a reflection of most.
"It's our reputation, and it's the reputation of our employers, but also it's a programme designed to be both beneficial to New Zealand, and also those countries from where the seasonal workers are coming from, so we have a duty of care.
"We have, I believe, the right infrastructure, the right checks and balances.
"Whenever concerns are raised we're very quick to ensure that we follow up on those, and it's in the employer's interest as well that we all do."
She said there were positive outcomes for RSE workers more often than not in New Zealand.
"More often than not I hear stories of long-standing relationships with individuals because they become family.
"Sometimes we hear of incidents - the reason we need to move very quickly on those is because it undermines the good work that many other employers do."
She said the Government was also working its hardest to match New Zealanders to existing employment opportunities, which she said was demonstrated by low unemployment.
She said the Government was doing what it could to make training and skills easy to access, citing fees-free training and study, free apprenticeships and the training incentive allowance.
She said the Government had also increased the number of frontline Ministry of Social Development staff to help with job matching.
"We also have incentives to support employers, particularly in taking our young people on and giving them opportunities, and they've been really successful," Ardern said.
"We need to keep doing that. Some of that training takes time though because you can't grow a nurse overnight and you can't create a plumber or an electrician overnight, so that does take a long-term investment."
