A sign of the "harsh" impact Covid has had on jobs is reflected in the number of people retraining in computer skills, a leading educationalist believes.
Selwyn Love, a tutor in a Business Administration course at the Hamilton campus of Vision College, says since Covid he estimates up to 75 per cent of those taking the course are doing so because they have lost jobs.
"Prior to Covid this would have represented less than 50 per cent of our intake," he says. "You don't have to dig too deeply to see that a lot of people have been dealt with very harshly in the past year."
The 20-week course (NZ Certificate in Business Administration and Technology) teaches computer skills with a business focus and is run at the college's campuses in Auckland, Pukekohe, Hamilton and Christchurch. Attracting up to 300 students every year, it is free and open only to New Zealand residents.
Love says he is not surprised an increasing number of those taking the course have lost jobs as although the national unemployment rate dropped in the December quarter (it sat at 4.9 per cent compared to 5.3 per cent at the end of September), it is still higher than the 4.1 per cent at the same time the previous year.
Stats NZ figures show the total number of unemployed to the end of December was 141,000, a number 25,000 more than the year before.
Love says the course (it is at NCEA Level 3) is run through a combination of classroom tutorials and self-directed workbook study and is perfect for people wanting to upskill or to gain the skills they need to get back into the workforce.
One example he saw at the Hamilton campus was a man who had worked for years in an engineering workshop but had recently lost his job: "He decided to enroll on the course to retrain in new skills in the hopes of finding work.
"His story is quite typical," Love says. "People seek to upskill so they stand out more in the hurly burly of competing for jobs and so they can offer a different dynamic to employers. In the last 12 months we've had a significant increase in interest.
"The average age of those doing the course is between 30 and 40, but I've had people around 19 or 20 and those in their early 60s. The common theme among them all is they realise that if they want to get jobs they need to have something to grab the attention of employers in these difficult times."
Love says tutors often act as referees for their students when applying for jobs: "We can do this because we observe them over six months and we see a lot of examples of them getting back into the workforce.
"The chances of them doing so are much higher if they have completed the course not only because of the skills they have learnt but because of the way they are able to present themselves at interviews.
"All the tutors have a strong business background and bring a real-world approach to the study," he says. "Each part of the course is highly practical and relevant to what employers expect from their administration staff, especially as more jobs are allowing or requiring people to work from home."
The programme covers applications like Microsoft Word, Excel and Publisher as well as business report writing, communication skills and document creation.
Love says the college is looking for people with competency in computer skills to NCEA Level 2 or at least a solid basic computing ability. "The course is hands-on and has students at the computer from day one and gets technical pretty quickly."
Classes are held during normal working hours (although the college is flexible with this) and are available for New Zealand residents aged 16 and over. The college has rolling intakes throughout the year with the next programme beginning in May.
For more information go to: www.vision.ac.nz or visioncollege.ac.nz/study/business-technology/new-zealand-certificate-in-business-admin-and-technology/