Sector Workforce Engagement Programme (SWEP) October Update

The Sector Workforce Engagement Programme (SWEP) aims to improve employers’ access to reliable, appropriately skilled staff at the right time and place, whilst giving priority to domestic job seekers including beneficiaries. This will be achieved through a series of sector-led, government-supported engagements to develop labour market solutions in sectors critical to New Zealand.

The National Labour Governance Group will meet to discuss the outcome of the NZIER report and agree strategies to help build the
domestic pipeline out to 2022. Of particular note is the Bay of Plenty region where the production of kiwifruit is predicted to nearly
triple that of other major crops during the same period.

New Zealand Seasonal Work Scheme Evaluation
The New Zealand Seasonal Work Scheme was put in place in 2015 to try and get more New Zealanders to fill additional labour
requirements for the main growing regions. NZIER have been selected to conduct an evaluation of the scheme. The
evaluation will assess what is working well, look for improvements and identify the critical success factors so as to look at replicating the scheme in other sectors. A previous evaluation was commissioned by the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs for the
Hawkes Bay region only. The NZIER evaluation will build on the findings of the Hawkes Bay evaluation and include the other
horticulture & viticulture regions such as Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Marlborough.

Road Transport Forum Conference
The Annual Road Transport Forum Conference was held in Tauranga on the 27th and 28th of October. All of the transport associations were represented along with both public and private sector stakeholders.

The theme for the conference was Innovation and Change, and to support this the opportunity was available to hear from experts, innovators and regulators who are at the forefront of influencing change both in the wider economy and the transport sector.

A big positive from the conference with industry support being confirmed universally and publically from the associations is to begin to get people into industry's licencing pipeline, this hopefully as desired translates into suitable jobs for either new people or
those seeking to re-enter the industry