Talent and Employers

Project Update
November 2021

Recent Study of 169 local bsuinesses commissioned by Get-Go in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and UCOL.

Recent study of 169 local businesses comissioned by Get-Go in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and UCOL

Horowhenua employers say a lack of suitable staff is their main roadblock to growth and the situation is likely to get worse over the next three years. This was a key finding of a recent study of 169 Horowhenua employers, which was commissioned by employment initiative Get—Go

Horowhenua in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and UCOL. The ongoing issue of getting suitable staff has resulted in some Horowhenua businesses either turning work away or purposely trying to slow down their business so they do not over commit.

Get Go Case Study: Description of the local context and needs

31st October 2021

Across the Horowhenua District and in each of its communities there are a range of significant labour market and wider socio-economic challenges, from educational attainment, to unemployment, to rates of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), to beneficiary rates. Across all these measures the Horowhenua District performs poorly when compared to surrounding districts, or to comparable local area or to regional and national averages.’ ‘These poorer outcomes are also more acutely felt by Maori, who make up 20% of the district’s population but represent 40% of total Job Seekers’ NEET (source: Martin Jenkins, Pathways Horowhenua report, 29th March 2019).

Get-Go Launches to Horowhenua Community

Last Thursday, local employers, educators and community leaders in the Horowhenua flocked to the new Levin Kia showroom for the launch of Get-Go a new initiative that has been created to connect talent with the work they want and employers with the people they need in Horowhenua.

The employment initiative is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, had an array of local employers there, from homegrown names such as Turks Poultry, to Thermosash, an exciting new business in Horowhenua who are the first anchor tenant in the Horowhenua Business Park, established by the Horowhenua New Zealand Trust.

Being a part of the Horowhenua New Zealand Trust, Get-Go is extremely important to Trustee Sarah Ryan, who has taught youth in Horowhenua for years. Sarah says "It is not just a job listing website, but rather a way to directly connect talent with available jobs and a variety of career paths. It is also a way to showcase our employers. To tell the stories of their business, their values and the breadth of opportunities available with them."

Geoff Lewis of Lewis Farms gladly hosted the launch and spoke about the many opportunities that the initiative offers. He says "There is a tremendous demand for food production, infrastructure, housing, construction, roading, even recreation and we are really struggling to fill the demand for staff. Get-Go offers workers and employers a complete package using amazing technology. We would like to increase average household income by say $10,000. That is easy to achieve with enough motivated, skilled, and hardworking workers.”

But Get-Go won’t work unless we include all parts of the puzzle which is why the local Education providers (Horowhenua, Waiopehu, Manawatu Colleges), UCOL, HLC and Ministry of Social Development have been on board since early on in the project to best help our chances of improving the wellbeing of our community.

We reiterated our phased approach to testing the platform with small groups of talent before our official launch to the public within the next few weeks. If you are an employer in the Horowhenua and want to be a part of Get-Go, please contact Shane, Get-Go’s Executive Lead by email to shane@get-go.nz to see what is on offer for your business.

 If you'd like to know more about our Talent and Employers project

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Horowhenua New Zealand Trust receives over $806,000 from the Provincial Growth Fund to support employment in Horowhenua

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