DairyNZ: Labour market survey on

Rural Contractors' New Zealand president Dave Kean says finding skilled workers is a problem. Photo: Supplied

DairyNZ is carrying out a labour market survey in Southland and Canterbury in an effort to identify the extent of the labour shortage problem faced by farmers in both areas, and to try to identify any bottlenecks in hiring people which could be addressed.

DairyNZ people team manager Jane Muir said that DairyNZ recognised there was a shortage of dairy employees, particularly in Canterbury and Southland.

''We want to understand how big the shortage is and why farmers are finding it challenging to find people,'' she said.

Steve Canny.

The survey consists of phone interviews with dairy farmers who are randomly selected.

''We're also interviewing key stakeholders throughout the region to add more depth to the survey results.''

Rural Contractors New Zealand president David Kean said besides the issue of finding people to fill jobs, contractors had the additional issue of finding people capable of safely operating large machinery.

''Machinery used in contracting is getting bigger and more complex.

''While there is a group of people who are available on the world circuit where workers move from country to country with the seasons, we are struggling to get them to return to New Zealand under the present immigration regime.''

He said contractors had held induction days and attempted to provide incentives for new workers but the long hours and sometimes difficult conditions had made it difficult to employ people from the existing labour pool.

''We've also tried to engage the schools to help promote employment in the agriculture sector, but with limited success.''

Steve Canny, Venture Southland's group manager business and strategic projects, said his organisation had been working with DairyNZ to help address the sector's employment issues.

''The reality is that there continues to be a very tight labour market in Southland.''

Venture Southland estimated that half of the businesses in Southland would be looking at employing extra staff in the next year and Mr Canny said that this could translate into 7000 jobs needing to be filled.

He said finding longer-term solutions to labour shortages was important for both the province as well as the national economy given approximately 70% of Southland's GDP related to exporting industries.

About 15% of New Zealand's tradeable exports are produced or processed in Southland.

''Southland has the highest labour force participation rates in the country and we also face, as do most regions, an ageing population of people moving out of the workforce,'' Mr Canny said.

The dairy sector has been helped by the key role migrant workers have played in helping meet labour demand as the dairy industry has expanded in Southland.

''We still face the ongoing problem of needing to attract and retain these people,'' he said.

At the end of the survey, DairyNZ plans to put together a labour market supply report which will be used by the Government and other stakeholders to put in place initiatives to help farmers get better access to the staff they need.

DairyNZ aims to have the survey completed by Christmas, and plans to give feedback to farmers on the results of the survey.

Southern Rural Life