Horticulture works ‘really hard’ at first, but decent money can be made

Robert Doig spent three months pruning vines in Canterbury to take a break from his regular job as a brilliant auto industry.

The 31-year-old Cantabrian said he made decent money in the June-August period, got in shape, grew some muscles and loved working out in the fresh air.

Now, he recommends horticulture work to people who were left without work as a result of the Covid-19 economic recession.

“It was a lot of fun. The first few weeks were very, very difficult, but it was a case of getting used to it, learning your own style,” he said.

READ MORE:
* ‘Worrying’ Times for Nelson Tasman Fruit Growers as Harvest Approaches
* We depend too much on poor foreigners
* Fruit picking jobs that go begging: Who is really to blame?

A huge labor shortage has left the horticulture and viticulture sectors facing a nightmare harvest.

The horticultural worker shortage due to Covid-19 border restrictions is putting $ 9.5 billion of the country’s economy at risk, says New Zealand Apples and Pears CEO Alan Pollard.

For some unemployed workers, rural work is out of reach to fill a job gap, but Doig found work as a vine pruner 25 miles from his home in Christchurch.

The trip was against the rush hour traffic flow and he was able to manage the trip in 30 minutes.

“It was open road all the way,” he said.

Getting the job was easy.

He applied, and when the employer called, he answered his phone.

The employer told him it was a rarity. Many people who applied for the job did not answer their phones or did not return calls, which Doig thought might have to do with just applying to satisfy work and income.

“When you are unemployed, you have to be seen as applying for a job,” he said.

“They told me they fought to get workers,” Doig said.

He was hired to prune the grape vines, and initially, his muscles, which only had to cope with indoor electrical work in auto workshops, were pushed to new limits.

“My arms hurt from the beginning, and it was just a case of being aware of it, and as the weeks went by, it got easier and easier,” he said.

Skill, not youth and strength, was the key to piecework success.

Doig remembered a skilled coworker, who worked much faster than he.

“The lady had done some seasons. She was 40 years old, maybe 50 years old. She never told us. She just complained about being older, ”he said. “But she was always faster than us.”

“We” were the youngest workers, which included college graduates and an English woman doing an Old Country EO.

An Auckland engineering graduate was doing a New Zealand “OE” on the South Island, Doig said.

“She was just doing a New Zealand SO. She traveled to get these kinds of jobs, ”he said.

It was nice to work with all his coworkers, and at the end of each day Doig enjoyed the feeling of physical, not mental, exhaustion.

“Working outside is physically difficult, but you feel more alive and energetic at the end of the day,” he said.

They paid him piecemeal, which meant accepting almost minimum wage until he gained skills and speed.

However, he said, “It was pretty easy to match or beat my original salary of $ 31 an hour, and some days I would earn as much as $ 40 an hour if I was doing well.

“I couldn’t complain about the money, much better than being trapped all day.”

However, the weather could make work difficult.

“There were times when there were very strong southerly winds and rain, which went slowly,” said Doig. “Then you would be receiving the minimum wage.”

In an attempt to attract more young workers in the short term, Horticulture NZ and New Zealand Apples and Pears Inc have launched an employment service to place the city’s youth in fruit picking jobs.

The service is called Pick Tiki and was created by recent college graduates Emma Boase and Summer Wynyard, who recognized the job opportunities that exist for youth in the summer hot spots of Hawke’s Bay, Nelson and Central Otago.

They both spent their college vacations working in the cherry and apple industries.

“Many people are not sure what picking and packing jobs entail, and there are some negative and often inaccurate assumptions about terms and payment levels,” Wynyard said.

“What we’re trying to do is dispel those myths, and by evaluating employers, we showcase those that we believe will provide great experiences for our youth. We also wanted to simplify the process to get seasonal work and this platform is literally a one-stop shop, ”he said.

The couple were working with local tourism organizations to help students find accommodation and transportation.

Video courtesy of RNZ.