Employment

Having a job is key to being able to provide for yourself and your family.

In these tough economic times we’re working hard to help people stay in work, or get a job if they are not already in work. For those who can’t find work, we will be here to help, but our first priority will always be to get people back into the workplace as soon as possible.

Our local labour market
The Auckland Region represents over one third of the economy – it is home to around a third of New Zealand’s population and a third of the country’s businesses. A strong, sustainable economic environment in Auckland is critical to New Zealand’s overall growth and prosperity.

To make sure we respond to the demands of industries and employers we need to know what their needs are.  Being able to quickly match people's skills to those needs will get results for employers and for people looking for work. We have a range of ways of matching the skills needed with the skill sets jobseekers have. Where there are gaps, we can help jobseekers access the right training to fill those gaps.

Working with employers

Auckland has felt the effects of the recession earlier and more strongly than other regions in New Zealand. We're working with a wide range of employers to help them manage their vacancies and plan for the future.

Industry/employer partnerships
We work with industries at a national level to minimise skill and labour shortages, and to maximise job opportunities. These partnerships are designed to address the needs of industries by delivering targeted industry-specific skills training and, at the same time, jobs for programme participants.

We currently have 80 industry and major employer partnerships nationwide. These partnerships include those with major industries like agriculture, construction and hospitality. We also have partnerships with regional Chambers of Commerce and large employers like Telecom, Air New Zealand, Fonterra, Westpac and McDonald’s.

In Auckland, we are actively promoting industry partnerships to local businesses. In our region we are working with four local industries to provide them with staff with the appropriate training – waste management, fitness and pilates instructing, manufacturing and a specific Transition to Trades programme for youth in the Rodney district.

In 2009/2010 we will run:

• Occupations in Waste Management programmes
• employment programmes to support unique industries
• bulk recruitment schemes for businesses through Work and Income service centres
• programmes that will help sole parents to get back into the workforce.

Straight 2 Work
We run Straight 2 Work programmes with most of our industry and employer partners. These programmes offer pre- and post-employment training and support. They are developed by industry for industry, making the training relevant to the needs of employers.

Help keep businesses going
Businesses with more than 50 employees that are experiencing a temporary downturn can get extra help from us through the Job Support Scheme. The scheme pays an allowance for those workers who agree to work reduced hours. This means employers can keep as many jobs as possible while firms’ earnings are down. Right now we are helping businesses through this scheme in the Auckland Region.

Getting people into work

Our ‘Work First’ focus
We are finding that the type of person coming to us for job search help has changed – they have more skills and a different expectation of our services. This has meant that we have had to respond to better meet their needs.  

We have changed our service delivery model to assess how quickly we can get people back into work. We have improved the ease of finding work for self driven jobseekers, improved our services to employers, and ensured that appropriate job vacancies are made more readily available. If a person loses their job, it’s important they find another one quickly. They are more likely to be attractive to employers while their skills are current and they still have confidence.

We are getting Aucklanders into work and helping them to stay there by:

• taking a ‘Work First’ approach when people come to us for help
• entering partnerships with relevant agencies to identify and support Māori and Pacific small businesses requiring help to both employ and retain staff.

Help for people affected by redundancy
Despite a business’s best efforts to stay afloat, there will be times when it’s not enough. When this happens, we will work hard to help those people worst affected by redundancy to find other job opportunities.

We continue to help employers through their challenges in managing business change and to help affected employers and employees to better understand what support and financial assistance is available to them.

For people who have been made redundant and can’t find other work, we deliver the ReStart package. ReStart offers financial help for up to 16 weeks for those people who have been made redundant and need extra help. It also provides extra accommodation and childcare assistance.