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The Detail is a daily news podcast produced for RNZ by Press room and is posted on Stuff with permission. Click on this link to subscribe to the podcast.
With closed borders and no backpackers or casual labor, the fruit picking industry desperately needs more workers than ever.
Today The detail looks at why it is so difficult to fill the gaps and whether robots are the answer to a labor shortage for what even employers admit is an “s …” job.
Horticulture is a $ 10 billion industry and it is one that will continue to grow despite Covid-19.
READ MORE:
* Visa changes will help alleviate the labor shortage crisis for kiwi growers
* The ‘perfect storm’ is coming for Central Otago producers facing the Covid-19 labor crisis
* Why the meat and fruit picking industries are losing Kiwi employees
* World’s first robotic apple picker could curb seasonal labor shortage
But the lack of workers has been something that has plagued the sector for years, even before the pandemic.
Recent stories from Press room on the alleged labor exploitation committed by government officials has not helped.
The detail talks to Summerfruit NZ CEO Richard Palmer about the unattractive fruit picking and worker rights.
“Several cohorts that we have engaged with have expressed concern about [worker exploitation], and we express the same concern. Any employer I speak to also finds it unacceptable, “he says.
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The lack of fruit choppers has been something that has affected the horticulture sector for years, even before the pandemic.
Palmer says the recent news that 11,000 people with expiring work and vacation visas will be able to stay in the country to work in the horticulture industry is excellent.
But not everyone will automatically accept the offer, and the numbers are hard to figure out.
In Central Otago alone, about 5,000 workers are needed at peak harvest to pick summer fruits like cherries.
“In the summer fruit sector, we are around 20 percent kiwis and a little less than 20 percent CSR workers, so the rest [60 per cent] it’s typically backpackers, work vacation visas and other seasonal workers, “says Palmer.
Talk about what the industry is doing to find other workers.
The Detail also listens to Bruce MacDonald, Professor of Robotics at the University of Auckland.
Analyze where exactly the technology is and explain why its use is not yet widespread.
“All the international robotics news talks about … Covid is accelerating robots and automation,” he says.
“I think companies see that they cannot bring people together too closely in factories or in orchards,” he says.
The detail He also talks to Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan about why he plans to roll up his sleeves and work in the fruit picking industry this summer.
