Region’s firms struggling to find staff
Many businesses in Nelson and Tasman are growing rapidly but there is also a growing problem filling vacancies and attracting workers to the region, a study shows.
It also backs the existence of ‘‘sunshine wages’’ in the region, which deter some job seekers.
Research conducted by the Nelson Tasman Innovation Neighbourhood (NTIN) found that 60 per cent of businesses said talent attraction was one of their top three challenges.
Established in 2018, NTIN is a collaboration between local organisations to help tackle business issues in the region, including Datacom, Sealord, NZ King Salmon, the Cawthron Institute, Pic’s Peanut Butter, Wakatu¯ Incorporation, Intepeople, Nelmac, the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, and the Nelson Regional Development Agency.
Representatives from more than 100 local employers from a range of different sectors and business sizes, as well as prospective employees, were interviewed.
NTIN chairman Dave Thompson said that while there were many attractive lifestyle aspects for people looking to work in Nelson and Tasman, employers had reported that the perceived challenges often outweighed the benefits for potential employees.
There were issues regarding a limited number of employment opportunities in the region, along with comparatively high living costs.
The research also hinted that the phenomenon of Nelson having lower ‘‘sunshine wages’’ was more reality than myth.
Thompson said that while some employers denied it was an issue, for most companies there was a gap between what people were paid here and in other regions – and in some cases, it could be quite substantial.
‘‘Some might not mind moving to Nelson and taking a 10 per cent pay drop, but we cited examples of where pay drops of
20 per cent to 50 per cent occurred.
‘‘If that’s going to happen, I don’t know how the region is ever going to compete for talent.’’
He said the hardest roles to fill tended to be in mid-level and senior-level management, particularly in technical and commercial roles.
With about 40 per cent of businesses surveyed undergoing reasonable or rapid growth, Thompson said the issue was one that needed to be solved together.
‘‘It’s not a short-term quick fix, but a matter of moving the dial slowly. We need to work together to address the obstacles identified by prospective talent to ensure we attract the right people to our region to help us grow.
‘‘There are so many business success stories based here, with many more on the cusp, so we need to collectively change the perception that opportunities here are limited.’’
To help businesses attract talent, NTIN has developed a set of tips that employers can implement straight away, including promoting their business story, selling the career opportunity and not just the lifestyle, and being willing to compete nationally for talent.
Another initiative launched in 2018 and set to return this year is NTIN’s Summer of Tech, an internship where students are hosted at a range of local companies.
‘‘There is a bit of a perception that Nelson is not a university town like Dunedin,’’ Thompson said. ‘‘Young people want to go to the big smoke, go overseas.
‘‘We’re not trying to stop that. What we’re trying to do is give them an alternative, so maybe they come back in their 30s rather than their 40s or 50s.’’
‘‘We need to work together to address the obstacles.’’