Boss offers $3k bonus for turning up to work drug-free
Forestry sector’s struggle to recruit staff exacerbated by Covid border restrictions
A silviculture contractor is offering a yearly bonus of about $3640 if workers turn up for work and are drug-free as the industry struggles to recruit and retain good staff.
Training programmes have been introduced but Kiwis are reluctant to take on the physically demanding jobs, experts say, and there is still a reliance on migrants.
Nathan Fogden, director of IntaWood Forestry in the Bay of Plenty, said he paid bonuses of about $3640 to attract reliable, drug-free workers. These were paid at intervals through the year and he had up to eight to 10 jobs available at any time in Rotorua.
“It’s a carrot that was brought in to acknowledge loyalty. They get paid some of it after six months but we really want them to stay for longer.”
Fogden did just under 300 drug tests last year — no one failed. This year one test came back positive for cannabis and Fogden said every failure resulted in a cut to their bonus.
But finding Kiwis willing to do the physically demanding work who were drug-free was proving difficult.
The industry wanted people aged 18 to 35 but, unfortunately, typically some people in that age bracket were recreational drug and alcohol users, he said. “Those two things clash.”
Fogden said, in his view, wages needed to be higher. His workers could make more than $54,000.
“It’s damn hard . . . You are working in all sorts of weather and you have a whole lot of health and safety components that other workplaces don’t have to worry about.”
Mahi Ra¯kau Forest Management’s health, safety, training and recruitment co-ordinator, Joe Taute, said they float between 135 and 140 staff.
It was hard to keep Kiwi workers on the job and they had 30 vacancies available now. “Many only last a few days or weeks due to the early morning starts, challenging environment and tough elements we work in.”
Taute said the firm was always looking for Kiwi workers but had not hired any new employees recently because they were unsure of the work ahead of them due to Covid-19.
Fijians and Filipinos made up 40 per cent of their current workforce and this is largely due to their strong work ethic and dependable nature — “you can’t fault the effort they put in”.
His top people could earn about $80,000 a year.
Competenz chief executive Fiona Kingsford said the forestry sector was busier than ever and demand for workers was high. More than 5400 people would be needed to fill roles in the industry over the next five years.
“A challenge for the industry is that with border restrictions in place due to Covid, the immigrant workforce that has supported silviculture in the past has all but disappeared, making Kiwi trainees in demand more than ever. The good news is that we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of Kiwis enrolling in forestry training . . . over the past couple of years.”
In 2021, 4000 people were enrolled across courses, up 23 per cent from the same time last year.