Rotorua jobseekers: More than 20 per cent are under 25, claims National

National Party social development and employment spokeswoman Louise Upston. Photo / Andrew Warner

More than 20 per cent of people on the jobseeker benefit in Rotorua are youth, National says.

This is despite businesses from many sectors crying out for staff and organisations in the city ready to support jobseekers into roles.

However, Ministry for Social Development regional commissioner Mike Bryant said it was encouraged by the continuing high numbers of people moving off a benefit and into paid employment, in Rotorua, the Bay of Plenty and nationwide.

"Helping people find and keep employment is a key focus for us."

Over the past 12 months, more than 2800 people in Rotorua had moved off from a main benefit because they started working, he said.

About 30 people attended an "Into Work" workshop yesterday in Rotorua , which was part of a series hosted by National Party social development and employment spokesperson Louise Upston.

In a statement before the workshop, she said despite record job vacancies, 177,000 people across the country remained on the Jobseeker Support - a weekly payment that helps New Zealanders while they look for work.

In Rotorua, there were 4842 people on the payment, with almost 1011 under the age of 25.

To be eligible for jobseeker, you must be over the age of 18 and be willing to accept suitable employment or take steps to find work.

She said topics were similar to those at the previous six workshops, including the challenge of "large" numbers of jobseekers while also having employers searching for staff.

The workshop aimed to help solve challenges for businesses and reduce barriers for those seeking work.

"We've had people attending who work with jobseekers as well as businesses who are trying to find staff."

A lot of the conversation in the workshop related to connections between employers, jobseekers and those in between.

Upston said, in her view, one of the biggest complaints organisations had was getting jobseeker referrals from the Ministry of Social Development.

"They are increasingly frustrated about that because there are nearly 5000 jobseekers here and lots of vacancies."

As for why jobseekers may not be taking up jobs, she said in her opinion they did not know where opportunities existed, and there was insufficient consequence if they did not take action to accept those roles.

She said it was a mystery why MSD was not making referrals to local organisations that could provide support and it had been suggested MSD was doing it themselves.

"But I can't see they are, or if they are they are not doing a good job at supporting people into the jobs available.

"Work and Income are failing in their responsibility to support people off welfare into work."

Rotorua Community Youth Centre Trust chief executive Jennifer Murray speaks at the workshop. Photo / Andrew Warner

Rotorua Community Youth Centre Trust chief executive Jennifer Murray attended the meeting with the centre's youth employment plus manager.

The pair made the point a lot of youth they worked with to get into jobs came from complex backgrounds.

Within their service, they identified the young people's needs and strengths, and any barriers to employment they might have.

These often included mental health, transport including driver's licences, or even understanding what was required to be employed.

The centre worked in a holistic way to break down barriers to employment access, particularly for those with trauma, and set them on a course for success.

Some who they helped had never had an example of what it meant to go to work, such as getting up at a particular time.

They worked with potential employees and employers to ensure the work placements were successful and sustainable.

Each young person was also supported for at least six months after they were placed in employment.

About 30 people attended the Into Work workshop in Rotorua on Wednesday. Photo / Andrew Warner

While Rotorua Community Youth Centre had connections in the community to engage young people, including other organisations, it had received "very few" referrals from MSD.

"We can always work with more rangatahi. We know that MSD have many young people on their books that we are really keen and able to support.

"We have the expertise and wrap-around support services, including mental health, primary health care and youth development services to meet the needs of our Rotorua youth and provide 'work ready' employees that meet the requirements of our local businesses."

Upston said many of the answers already existed in the community but were not being connected.

Other comments from the room were that the issue was multi-generational.

Top Staff Solutions' Kirsten Bangs had recently been told by a regional MSD worker there were only five work brokers in the city, with a caseload of 1000 each.

She had asked the staff member what happened to unemployed people who did not "fit into boxes", such as the rangatahi programmes, and had been told the caseworkers worked with them.

Regional commissioner Bryant said the figures Bangs quoted were not accurate.

Work brokers were not case managers and were not assigned caseloads of clients in this way.

They were specialised staff who engage with employers about their workforce needs, linked them to suitable cohorts of clients, and arranged upskilling opportunities with contracted providers.

''They do this alongside other staff who specialise in helping people find work, such as our early response redeployment team, the connected employment support service, and our dedicated employment case managers – who have a caseload of 105 clients each.''

He said it knew most people wanted to work and on Tuesday 300 people attended Spring into Work, an employment expo it hosted with Skills VR.

The ministry also worked closely with a number of local contracted training providers. In Bay of Plenty, it referred more than 2500 of its clients to them in the 2021/22 financial year.

Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni was contacted for comment but was unable to respond by deadline.