Tiwai needs to recruit 90 new staff

Tiwai is seeking to recruit 90 new staff as production increases and older staff retire.

With the restart of potline four and an increase in demand for aluminium block products, the company is trying to fill 90 roles.

In May, the smelter announced it was restarting potline four as metal prices had improved and NZ Pacific Aluminium secured a fixed power contract.

Outgoing chief executive and gen- eral manager Gretta Stephens said while it was unusual to be recruiting for so many roles, most of the new jobs related to the restart of line four and the subsequent increased metal production in the casthouse.

The smelter has also introduced a trainee operator hub, creating 12 vacancies, and there were also 10 new roles in training, Stephens said.

‘‘As well as this, there has been an increase in demand for rolling block, which means that instead of just restarting a casting facility on a dayshift basis to cope with the increased metal from the line four restart, we will run it 24/7, meaning there will be additional shifts to cover.’’

Vacancies were also starting to come up as many employees who have worked at the company for three decades or more, were starting to retire, Stephens said.

The natural attrition of staff also created vacancies, she said.

The main power contract for the smelter runs until 2030.

The fourth potline was shut in April 2012 because of historically low aluminium prices globally. Restarting the potline was likely to take six months, with the recruitment and training of staff one of the most time-consuming elements of the process.