Businesses ‘cry out for staff ’
Southland urged to pull together as a region to attract workers
Southland businesses are crying out for staff and the region needs to pull together to attract workers from elsewhere, the Southland Chamber of Commerce says.
Chief executive Sheree Carey said workforce attraction and retention had taken on a whole new complexion post Covid-19.
Southland businesses were crying out for staff across all industries, she said.
‘‘It’s everybody, from lawyers to truck drivers to the agriculture sector to builders and electricians.
‘‘Southland is competing with other regions for the same pool of people, and we need to pull together as a region to make Southland a destination of choice.’’
Staffing shortages in Southland had been an issue for several years but Covid had intensified the challenges, with the migrant workforce tap being ‘‘turned off’’.
‘‘We have lost a lot of extra manpower through the migrants not being allowed to come in.’’
The Government had been clear immigration would continue to be a tricky area for some time, but the chamber would continue to lobby for sensible and workable immigration rules, Carey said.
In the past week alone, the transport industry has cited a major shortage of truck drivers, while a Southland insight report has declared the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter cannot fill specialist roles such as fitters, electricians, mechanics, crane operators, and process control technicians.
And national Master Builders president Kerry Archer, of Southland, confirmed all trades, including builders, plumbers and electricians, were struggling to get workers. ‘‘It’s exacerbated by the [large] amount of work that’s going on at the moment,’’ Archer said.
Carey said the issue went wider than businesses being short of staff in the short term.
‘‘Now Southland businesses are deciding not to tender for contracts because they know they won’t have staff in the future. That means businesses won’t grow.
‘‘We are talking about diversifying the region . . . where are the staff going to come from?’’
The chamber would lead a project aimed at attracting and retaining workers, with the first task to identify the industries with the biggest problems before determining how to tackle the issue.
Each industry may require different approaches, with lobbying the immigration ministry perhaps the best way to help solve the farming workforce shortage, she said.
Carey said retaining and attracting young people was one priority project, while retaining the up and coming leaders, the region’s parents and the driving forces of arts and culture was equally crucial.
More people needed to be attracted to Southland to fill the job shortages because Southland always had low unemployment, she said.
‘‘It’s everybody, from lawyers to truck drivers to the agriculture sector to builders and electricians.’’ Sheree Carey, pictured