Northland Regional Council economist Darryl Jones notes the average number of people employed in Northland is around 82,700 - 5 per cent higher than one year ago and 19 per cent higher than in March 2013.
... construction (housing, civil and commercial) is strong at the moment and soaking up work ready employees.
Nationally the comparison is 3.5 per cent and just over that for the past five years.
However, our 60.5 per cent employment rate overall is still the lowest in the country, largely due to Northland's high dependency ratio (ratio of working age to non-working age cohorts), also known as the 'hourglass' population distribution where the working age population is declining compared to other age cohorts.
Northland's regional GDP/capita makes it one of the worst performing regions, but our workers and businesses are productive and Northland rises to the middle of the pack in this area.
Supporting migration to the regions, providing seasonal employment schemes and things like bonding where training is tied to employment in a certain area help address this, but in my view the healthiest thing is to create businesses and internationally competitive sectors that compete for talent. Without this the hourglass will amplify no matter what you do through regulation.
Business cycles and the structure of your economy are extremely important. For example, construction (housing, civil and commercial) is strong at the moment and soaking up work ready employees.
The housing construction boom, particularly in Auckland, has been flowing to the regions; however the canary in the mine signal is that Auckland house prices and sales are cooling off – which is probably needed in Auckland.
In Northland, tourism and manufacturing have led strong employment growth but issues including productivity - higher paying jobs, and seasonality - employing people year-round, in the tourism sector need to be addressed.
Business development provides higher value visitor experiences year round.
Economic development, in a nutshell, is building a sustainable, resilient and diversified economy that delivers plenty of employment opportunities on an ongoing basis.
Many issues are being addressed in the Tai Tokerau Northland Economic Action Plan (TTNEAP), but it takes time and effort to shift the dials and it's a team sport.
I would like to highlight a couple of programmes that are getting people into work. The first is part of a Skills and Employment Steering Group under the TTNEAP led by Te Puni Kokiri with the Tertiary Education Commission, MBIE, MPI and MSD in Northland.
The MSD-led Taitamariki 500 youth engagement strategy (T500) pairs the needs and aspirations of young people who are deemed work or employment-ready with work and training opportunities.
A smaller KODE Plus programme works with youth to get them ready either for work or further training. In December 2016 when the programme started just over 2600 young people in Northland were receiving benefits. Today this figure sits at 2075. It's not hard to align this progress with Northland's reduction in NEETs.
Matching local talent with local businesses
Manpower, a private sector recruitment specialist, recently opened an office in Whangārei at The Orchard. Placing local talent with local businesses, and with the increased infrastructure requirements in construction, civil construction and engineering, they have facilitated several success stories.
John Henare, Manpower's Northland business manager, relays the story of a 20-year-old living out of his vehicle, on a training course but not able to identify opportunities, feeling deflated and lacking self-esteem.
He is now an apprentice diesel mechanic with a transport client, no longer living in his car, no longer welfare-dependant, generating a steady income and, most importantly, has a lot more confidence in his capabilities. The employer gave a young guy a chance, and it's paying off for them both.
The stories of real people in real jobs count! The key is collaboration. Agencies working together to address a common issue and employers willing to go the extra mile to train and upskill employees is clearly having an impact.
■ Dr David Wilson is the Chief Executive Officer of Northland's Economic Development Agency, Northland Inc, and Chairman of Economic Development NZ.
