Plan revealed to fill 'skill gaps' in workforces throughout Hawke's Bay

The plan is aimed at helping identify and address skill shortages in Hawke's Bay. Photo / NZME

A detailed plan has been released looking at how best to fill "skill gaps" in workforces throughout Hawke's Bay.

The group behind the plan says people entering the workforce are in particularly-high need of further skills and training, across a wide range of industries.

The Hawke's Bay Regional Skills Leadership Group (RSLG) - which includes a board of 13 business, iwi and community leaders - recently released its first regional workforce plan.

"[The group] was set up to basically identify skill gaps in the region, and the key mandate was to provide recommendations and advice," co-chair Erin Simpson, who has a background in horticulture, said.

That advice is then passed on to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), as well as councils representing tertiary providers and workforces, to help allocate funding where it is most needed to "fill those gaps" in the workforce.

The first regional workforce plan has now been released for Hawke's Bay and will be updated once a year.

The plan will be refreshed every year to help identify and fill new skill shortages. Photo / NZME

It has highlighted skills that need to be given to more young people entering the workforce.

"When the board went out to talk to the community and to employers, it became really clear that a lot of the foundation skills that particularly rangatahi [young people] don't have at the moment are things like what going to work is all about, how to learn when you are in the workplace, how to make sure that you have the right food and have had enough sleep - that you have those basic skills to really flourish in a workplace environment," Simpson said.

He said some programmes were already doing a great job in that space in Hawke's Bay, such as Building Futures, which is run in collaboration with Tumu Timbers.

However, he said more will be done to support industries and improve programmes for young people entering the workforce - a key recommendation from the plan.

The plan will be refreshed annually and take into account further skill gaps.

"Ongoing, we can focus on more-specific skill gaps that will help all our industry and communities."

To read the regional workforce plan click here or visit the MBIE website.

Other areas of New Zealand also have their own regional workforce plans.