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
Our principle industries are forestry, agriculture and tourism. Seasonal employment, such as in kiwifruit, avocado and mussel farming, provides a significant contribution to the Bay's labour market. The development and growth of the Port of Tauranga during the last decade has been a major contributor, both directly and indirectly, to the region's economy.

The Bay of Plenty has been hard hit by the recent economic recession, with all our industries being affected. We need to work with our industries to support them and to minimise the impact on their staff. We will also work with them to understand what they need from their workforce so we can support our clients into appropriate training to get sustainable employment.

We have a diverse region, with different demands and economic characteristics. Because of this we have segmented our region into three clusters, with each cluster sharing similar traits. This means we can better respond to each cluster's demands, identifying their main industries, the skill shortages they face and any seasonal labour patterns that exist.

There are a number of small, remote and rural communities in the Bay of Plenty. These communities were under economic pressure before the recession and they are now struggling even more. We will be working with them to find solutions to their needs.

Working with employers

Seasonal work
Our seasonal work priority is kiwifruit, with 77 per cent of all New Zealand's crop grown here. We need a large number of workers during the kiwifruit picking/packing season. To help people who live in remote areas get to these jobs we have co-funded transport to and from the orchards and pack houses.

Finding the vacancies
We are building a team of specialist Work Brokers who will focus on making new contacts with employers. We know the best way to access new work opportunities for our jobseekers is by working directly with employers.

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. Throughout the Bay we are actively promoting industry partnerships to local businesses. In our region we currently have partnerships with Kai Mahi, the Disability Resource Centre, the Early Training Trust and Seafood Food Processing.

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
There are a number of businesses experiencing a temporary downturn due to the recession. We can help those businesses with 50 or more staff through the Job Support Scheme. The scheme pays an allowance for those workers who agree to work reduced hours, so that employers can keep as many jobs as possible while firms' earnings are down.

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.

To get the people of the Bay of Plenty into work, and to help them to stay in work we'll:

• work with social and iwi organisations in smaller communities to create Taskforce Green funded work opportunities
• form partnerships with local employment agencies to help us access even more work opportunities for the more highly skilled and highly experienced jobseekers
• increase the marketing of jobseekers to potential employers, both directly and through bodies such as Chambers of Commerce and industry organisations.

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.

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.