Article published in The New Zealand Herald on 3 September,
2008
Despite tight economic conditions, New Zealand’s regional centres are leading
the country in jobs growth.
Figures released by statistics New Zealand reveal that centres such as the
Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Waikato produced the highest percentage increase
in filled jobs for the year to June 2007.
Bay of Plenty was up 3.4 per cent, Hawke’s Bay up 2.4 per cent and Waikato up
2.3 per cent. This compares with the national increase of 1.9 per cent.
The strength in regional jobs reflects the different industry profile for
those markets, with, for example, agriculture, forestry and fishing in the Bay
of Plenty driving the jobs growth in that area, up 1100 filled jobs.
The highest number of filled jobs in New Zealand is in the Auckland region,
at 592,140, with the property and business services category being the largest
employer.
It is fitting that Auckland will host the country’s largest jobs expo late
this month, when the New Zealand Herald Your Career Expo is held at the ASB
Showgrounds on September 27-28. The expo will bring together employers and
potential employees together for a two-day series of workshops, presentations
and exhibitions across four pavilions.
Scores of exhibitors have confirmed they will take part, including Westpac
Bank, Southern Cross Hospitals, New Zealand Post, Venture Southland, JRA (NZ)
Ltd, Vero, Flight Centre, University of Auckland, Royal New Zealand Navy, Massey
University and Fullers.
Expo organizer Michael Scott said the regional involvement at the event
reflected the strong demand for skilled workers outside the larger metropolitan
centres.
“We will have a significant presence at the expo from employers from Hawke’s
Bay as well as from Southland, where rural and agricultural industries are
forging ahead and in great need of skilled and unskilled labour,” he said.
“Visitors to the expo will find all they need to know about furthering their
careers either in Auckland or potentially about a whole new lifestyle away from
the hustle and bustle of the city.
JRA, which is sponsoring the Great Places to Work pavilion at the expo, is a
leading workplace analyst and says results from 10 years of surveys show a
common approach from successful businesses, regardless of where they are
based.
“No matter whether the organisation is large or small, public or private
sector, invariably we find great workplaces have created alignment around its
vision and values, created a strong sense of community, are committed to helping
people realise their development potential, and have worked hard to create a
real culture of performance,” JRA’s Leighton Abbot said.
JRA has collected a broad range of workplace anecdotes from successful
businesses which it has used to create its IdeasBank – a web based database that
allows visitors to search against key words (“performance culture” for example)
and explore examples of initiatives that New Zealand workplaces have introduced
to improve in this area.
In conjunction with the Your Career Expo, JRA is running an online poll which
measures the engagement profile of New Zealand. Go to www.jra.co.nz/poll to complete the quick
six-question survey.
