Farm jobs aplenty for the new jobless

Starting a conversation with someone you don’t know — and who doesn’t know you — can be a bit awkward. Someone has to make the first move if you’re to get acquainted.

Often, once the conversation is under way and you learn a bit about what makes each other tick, you’ll find common ground and mutual interests.

In the weeks and months ahead, this is just what many farmers and newly unemployed Kiwis, many living in town, will be doing. They’ll be taking a chance to learn and understand more about each other — figuring out whether they want to keep chatting. They’ll be talking about the great New Zealand countryside where thousands of job vacancies wait.

In dairy farming alone there are at least 1000 jobs available right now. There are jobs throughout the country with most of the vacancies in Waikato, dairy’s heartland, as well as in Canterbury, Otago and Southland.

Most jobs are in regions that are not so far-flung, in fact many are located within a ready drive of a town or city, and were home to thriving tourism and hospitality businesses, until Covid-19 arrived.

So, we know that most conversations between strangers start with one party taking the initiative — showing a bit of imagination and gumption.

A Go Dairy campaign is connecting people who are looking for work with farmers who’re looking for staff.

The Go Dairy career changer campaign recognises that for meaningful conversation there needs to be an understanding between the farmers and the people who want a secure job.

While dairy is ever-present in the daily lives of many Kiwis, be it the froth on a steaming flat white, cheese on a cracker or a lick of ice cream, I suggest that the dairy sector is not actually as familiar for many people as it should be.

Dairy has long been the engine room of the New Zealand economy and will continue to be as consumers here at home and around the world seek naturally produced, highly nutritious — and tasty — foods.

In this financial year ending on June 30, dairy is forecast to earn New Zealand $19.2 billion in export revenues.

This translates to an estimated total of $43 billion in economic activity as a result of dairying being strongly intertwined with the rest of our economy through jobs, direct and indirect, and through the purchase of goods and services, both in the farming and non-farming sectors.

On the world stage, our dairy farmers are regarded as the best for pasture-based farming, as well as their care for animals and their land. While dairy in New Zealand is largely freerange, it’s also underpinned by technology and data.

Dairy also offers the highest average wages paid in the primary sectors. And, like most sectors, the majority of dairy farm employers are good bosses too.

Crucial in the Go Dairy conversation between dairy farm employers and career changers is a win-win — that new staff are happy in their new lifestyle and jobs, and farm employers have talented people working for them. Yes, new entrants will start off in the more junior roles. But there’s the specially designed introduction to dairy farming programme, Go Dairy, to help establish skills and ongoing opportunities to quickly progress.