NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sponsored Stories

Youth wanted in $18 billion growth industry

20 Sep, 2016 05:00 PM
Other

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Wanted: 32,000 people to fill jobs to help fuel Auckland's rapid growth. Available: 23,000 16-24 year old Aucklanders not in education, employment or training.

And the money's good - $40,000-$60,000 in many starting salaries and genuine prospects for advancement.

It seems an easy equation to solve. But a new competition, #BuildAKL, has been launched to help solve the difficulties of getting the right people into not only the right jobs but jobs essential for growth - the burgeoning construction and infrastructure industry.

It's a sign of the times - youth unemployment is a massive problem globally and locally. Auckland is growing fast but needs 32,000 more skilled people to work in the industry by 2018. Auckland is expected to spend over $18 billion in the next decade on key capital projects and needs 400,000 more dwellings over the next 25 years.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development agency (ATEED) is facilitating #BuildAKL, on behalf of Auckland Council, seeking to help plug the gap by putting employers in touch with young people. They can not only take part in the expansion and improvement of Auckland but can also be trailblazers - helping to leave behind old perceptions the 'best' jobs are hardy annuals like doctors, lawyers, accountants, media and the like.

#BuildAKL is a social media campaign launching today at JobFest, New Zealand's largest youth employment event, at The Cloud on Queens Wharf. Young jobseekers attending can register for the #BuildAKL competition - with 20 top candidates selected in late November to take part in training for qualifications. The top 10 will then have a four-week rotation of summer work experience with a view to securing a job.

Using social media to spread the word, the campaign hopes to encourage more than 4000 young Aucklanders into the thriving construction and infrastructure industry overall.

It's a different way of tackling a large and sometimes daunting issue - and help is needed now. The Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) said earlier this year Auckland and New Zealand desperately need new houses but only a little over half the 28,000 houses required in 2016-17 could be built because of the skills shortage.

With Auckland's boom and Christchurch's re-build, unprecedented demand for construction workers has shattered original industry estimates 1,600 new carpenters would be needed by 2018. That has since been adjusted to over 3,000.

Photo / Supplied
Photo / Supplied

The rewards can be significant. Salaries can go high if young people move up the ladder. One recent example from the BCITO was a 26-year-old who had come through an apprenticeship as a builder, had become a site manager and then project manager for a $20m project after undertaking construction management training. The salary band for such a manager is about $90,000-$150,000.

But how do you adjust perceptions and move unqualified young people into jobs in an industry many think is closed to them or involves physical exertion, is male-oriented and not as career-advancing as other trades and professions?

ATEED's general manager, business innovation & skills, Patrick McVeigh says ATEED research suggests apprenticeships in the construction and infrastructure industry are seen by their target young people as "a good way to get paid while they learn".
"However the barrier is they are not confident to apply for jobs in that industry because of a lack of experience.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"That's something Auckland shares with other parts of the world, particularly Europe, where youth unemployment has become a real issue. We find here the job market has changed so vastly from 20 years ago; there is lasting impact from the global financial crisis."

However, young people were discovering that jobs within the industry weren't as closed as they used to be: "With all the new technology on offer, you don't have to be 1.9m tall and 100kgs to operate heavy machinery, for example. There are opportunities for everyone - and it's a chance to be involved in Auckland's future."

In 2014, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) found 73 million youth unemployed globally, with career prospects increasingly tentative and finding work a struggle.
"There's a paradox," says McVeigh. "Employers struggle to find the skills they need.
Research in 2014 found that across Europe 27 per cent of employers had left vacancies unfilled as they were unable to find skilled applicants.

"There was significant disparity between the views of education providers, employers and young people. While 74 per cent of educators were confident graduates were prepared for work, only 38 per cent of youth and 35 per cent of employers thought that to be the case."

McVeigh says no similar research has been done here but he suspects the findings would be similar: "We talk a lot about how young people aren't job-ready here and also how many employers, in a country which is heavy in small to medium businesses, aren't youth-ready; many don't have the systems in place to upskill youth and are frustrated they can't find people with the skills they need."

By 2018, Auckland's workforce is projected to grow by more than 53,000 jobs, 38 per cent of all new jobs nationally will be based in Auckland.

"Fifty-seven businesses are now on board as Youth Employer Pledge partners, meaning they're committed to helping tackle youth unemployment by looking at ways they can bring more young people into their organisations and give them the training they need," he says.

"That will help us to meet the challenge to ensure Auckland's youth, as our future workforce, is ready to work and is appropriately skilled."

Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sponsored Stories

Sponsored Stories

Behind the scenes of a wild weather event

07 Jul 09:52 PM
Sponsored Stories

Is your dog or cat hiding pain?

07 Jul 03:49 AM
Sponsored Stories

Outward Bound NZ: How a South Auckland teen ditched his phone and found confidence off the grid

07 Jul 01:24 AM
Sponsored Stories

What rising optimism means for you

06 Jul 10:59 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP