Filling the jobs gap

A looming boatbuilding skills shortage has led to a concerted effort by the industry, teaching organisations and local authorities to train new recruits, writes ROBIN BAILEY.

Success has created a huge problem for the New Zealand boatbuilding industry: a shortage of skilled staff.

The spinoff from the America's Cup and the low exchange rate further boosted the rapid growth of established companies over the past two years.

Then into the picture came two new major players, New Zealand Yachts in Whangarei and Sovereign Yachts in Hobsonville, each expecting to need from 70 to 100 skilled staff.

The Boating Industry Association, an industry umbrella group, is moving quickly to find those people. It is coordinating the job-creation efforts of Skill New Zealand and Work and Income New Zealand, and the main training departments of Unitec in Auckland and Northland Polytechnic. Northland Polytech has a new purpose-built training facility in Whangarei, sponsored by New Zealand Yachts.

The Boating Industry Training Organisation, the association's recruitment arm, is spearheading the whole operation. It has been given more funding to increase its New Zealand-wide service and national field officer Robert Brooke has been joined by Ivan Ingham as resident South Island coordinator.

"The modern industry needs boatbuilders trained on the job," says association chief executive Peter Busfield. "This means hands-on experience supplemented by specific polytechnic courses. Having gained their qualifications here, New Zealand boatbuilders can find jobs anywhere in the world.

"This training takes time and we need more people now. So the organisation is assisting Skill NZ and Winz to provide pre-employment boatbuilding courses at both Northland Polytechnic and Unitec.

"Full and part-time courses for school-leavers, unemployed or existing tradespeople upskilling to boatbuilding disciplines are about to start at Northland this month and are planned for Unitec later this year."

Northland has already started an intensive programme covering composite boatbuilding (eight and 14-week courses); general boatbuilding and marine cabinetmaking (34 weeks); and shorter block courses supervised by the organisation.

The aim is to quickly develop this programme, which is backed by New Zealand Yachts and has the support of the Whangarei City Council and the Northland Regional Council.

Busfield says the needs of the two new big players in Whangarei and Whenuapai cannot overshadow the additional staffing and training needs of those companies that have put years into developing New Zealand's reputation as a creditable, competitive and internationally respected nation of quality boatbuilders.

"These are the long-established companies like Alloy Yachts, McMullen and Wing, Marten Marine, Salthouse Marine Group, Salthouse Boatbuilders, Wavecrusher Boats, McDell Marine, Oliver, Formula and Genesis Boatbuilders, Austral Yachts, Cookson, Lloyd Stevenson, Robertson, Stark Bros, Ian Franklin, Circa Marine, Vaudrey Miller, and NZ Yachting Developments. These companies and 70 others that have earned New Zealand its good reputation are short of skilled people. Our priority is to them, because their ability to export more boats is dependent on the availability of additional skilled workers.

"The only handicap we are facing now is training. While there is no substitute for full apprenticeship, we can go some way towards solving the problem in the short-term by adding marine skills to tradespeople from allied industries.

"Electricians, engineers, carpenters, upholsterers - these are skilled people who can be moved into the marine environment with a minimum amount of retraining."

Recruiting the right people will require a degree of organisation so inquiries are handled quickly and prospective recruits receive immediate and authoritative advice. The association has set up a careers advisory line on 0800 600 242 - chances are it will be busy.