Whanganui mayors taskforce for jobs making ‘an actual real difference’

Trade apprenticeships are among the jobs found for Whanganui people through the mayors taskforce for jobs. Photo / 123rf

More than 50 young Whanganui people have found work through the mayors taskforce for jobs.

In 2022 the Whanganui District Council began a six-month pilot of the taskforce programme - a partnership between Local Government New Zealand and the Ministry of Social Development that aims to put people aged 16 to 24 in employment, education, or training.

The pilot put 16 people into sustainable employment - defined as being employed after 90 days, above the target of 12, and led to Whanganui being offered a two-year contract with funding of $585,000.

The contract has a target of 38 jobs for the first year with 39 young people already placed into employment, including in a range of trade apprenticeships, retail, and kitchen work.

Whanganui District Employment Training Trust is contracted to run the programme.

Its chief executive Sally Ross told the council’s operations and performance committee the “return on investment is extremely good”.

“It’s not just churn, it’s an actual real difference we’re making with this money.”

She said nationally the taskforce usually targeted rural areas but the number of young people without jobs or not in training in Whanganui was high.

Whanganui’s rate of young people not in employment, education or training is 15 per cent, compared to 11 per cent nationally, while 55.6 per cent of Whanganui students enrol in tertiary education compared to 78.8 per cent for New Zealand overall, a report to the council said.

“If we can just get in there and capture them early, help the employers understand what they can achieve ... it’s a big part of what we do and why we’re successful,” Ross said.

“If you give a person an opportunity that they want and they see the benefit of, then their motivation is quite high.

“We do tend to filter the people who are genuinely interested in getting into work. We don’t seem to have a lot of trouble with motivation once they’re into a role they want.”

Funding can help provide work equipment or qualifications such as a driver’s licence.

Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford.

Council chief executive David Langford said the Government was proposing to shrink the funding pool nationally.

“I think it’s important that we continue to perform really well and demonstrate that we can deliver the outcomes for the money we’re given,” he said.

“Every extra placement is a lower cost per placement and hopefully we can remain competitive for another contract.”

In 2020, ImpactLab assessed the mayors taskforce for jobs programme in six participating districts and determined there was a social return on investment of $5.30 for every dollar.