Whangārei painter John Waikato has been doing volunteer work since full-time work dried up in the last six months.
Photo/Michael Cunningham
Whangārei painter John Waikato has been doing volunteer work since full-time work dried up in the last six months.
Photo/Michael Cunningham
Self-employed painter John Waikato is among 5500 unemployed Northlanders and latest figures show the number of people without jobs in the region has risen nearly 31 per cent in the past three months.
The 50-year-old qualified painter is volunteering for One Double Five Community House in Whangārei - it provides a range of support to struggling families - since work dried up about six months ago.
Statistics New Zealand figures show 5500 or 6.2 per cent of Northland's working age population were unemployed in the September quarter which was higher than the national rate of 3.9 per cent.
Of the unemployed, 3000 were Maori and 2500 non-Maori, while 3600 were male and 1900 female.
That was an increase of nearly 31 per cent when compared with the June quarter when 4200 Northlanders were without a job.
Waikato was earning between $70,000 and $80,000 an year painting residential houses but said, with more painters competing for small to medium jobs in Whangārei, there simply weren't enough jobs available for those in his profession.
"Northland is a vast region and the fact so many people are unemployed means there simply aren't enough jobs available. There are maybe seasonal work available for people who are desperate.
"The other thing is some people are simply not motivated to put their best foot forward when it comes to looking for work. There are those such as me that are actively looking for work but there aren't enough [jobs] available," he said.
Stats NZ figures also show the number of Northlanders currently employed is not only the lowest of all regions but is down slightly from the June quarter.
At the end of September, 83,400 or 59.7 per cent of Northlanders were employed compared to 84,100 in the June quarter.
Whangārei mother-of-two boys, Laura Pitman, is studying for a certificate in business administration at People Potential to boost her chances of securing a full-time administration job.
She did a range of jobs but wasn't successful in landing her preferred type of work despite job hunting for two months.
Pitman isn't surprised that Northland has the highest rate of unemployment in the country.
"We live in a beautiful, rural setting where word of mouth is mostly preferred when it comes to getting work and that's why there aren't maybe a lot of job advertisements as is the case in bigger centres," she said.
Pitman said people's willingness to travel long distances to work in Northland meant locals were not always able to secure work.
Northland MP and Minister for Regional Development Shane Jones said a number of government initiatives like the One Billion Trees programme and construction of a rail link to Marsden Point should see more locals gainfully employed.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says business and Maori leaders need to do more to boost employment numbers in Northland.
Photo/NZME
He said employers and Maori leadership needed to do more to drive better outcomes, particularly around more work opportunities for Maori in low socio-economic communities.
Jones said getting more Northlanders gainfully employed would always be a challenge and pointed to a number of factors why Northland's unemployment stats fared badly.
A lack of strong investment in the region, inadequate connection of young people with employers and unwillingness by some to work even though there were jobs available were factors.
Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis also pointed to a number of government investments throughout Northland aimed at creating more jobs for locals.
"There are work opportunities but sometimes factors such as distance to get to places becomes a hindrance but things are improving, that's the main thing."
