Plea for the locals of Central Otago to work and provide beds to fill the labor gap

The people of Central Otago are being asked to pick fruit from the trees this year and provide beds for workers, as the region seeks to cover up a potential job crisis.

Desperate employers are scrambling for Kiwis to fill jobs, with close to 9,000 posted in the region this summer.

Of these, around 7000 are in horticulture and viticulture, 2000 in meat and food processing and more than 50 in hospitality.

With many migrant workers leaving the country and those here often struggling to renew employer-sponsored visas, there are fears that an impending worker shortage will put $ 50 million worth of crops at risk across the region.

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The Central Otago Recovery Response Group has asked locals who may be looking for work or even retirees to consider helping.

Covid’s director of recovery, Dylan Rushbrook, also wants you to consider offering vacant rooms to friends or family who want to come and help out.

“Every little bit helps keep our economy moving, and right now that’s critical,” he said.

Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan plans to work in a garden while the council is closed for the summer “because this is really an ‘all hands on deck’ situation.”

Among those desperate to find workers is Arrowtown’s Millbrook Resort, which needs staff for cleaning, food and beverage, reception and skilled workers like environmentalists.

James Dicey, owner of Cromwell’s vineyard development business, Grape Vision, offers $ 18.90 an hour to unskilled viticultural workers, with a free tent site and free transportation.

A switch to contract work would pay more, while experienced tractor drivers and machine operators would start at between $ 22.50 and $ 25 per hour.

Dicey also offers flexible hours, recently hiring a Cromwell mother who worked during school hours, while others could work up to 60 hours a week.

Cromwell orchard owner Simon Webb has just hired an experienced couple for $ 23 and $ 25 an hour at his Webb fruit business, providing them with a place to park their caravan and use of the common facilities. .

Staff typically work 40 to 50 hours a week, depending on their role and the weather, and most returning workers earn $ 20.50 an hour.

Webb employed four tour workers from the Wanaka-based Deep Canyon guide company and gave them the flexibility to return to their other jobs on short notice.

He thought it would be okay for the staff until February, when the schools and colleges return.

“I hope to pick up some cherry workers when their work slows down. I have some kiwis applying for work, but I need a lot more. “

Darlings Fruit owner Stephen Darling of Ettrick is also looking for more staff to make it through the end of May to cover the apple season.

“If you don’t harvest apples at the right point in a three week period, you lose quality, you lose the premium market, your reputation suffers, we don’t get a good price and we lose customers.

“The cost of living here is pretty minimal. It is not about the salary, but about what they take home at the end of the week.

Recognized Seasonal Employer (CSR) workers and foreign backpackers are critical to the job market. The industry was expanding and facing shortages before Covid-19 arrived.

Last month, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said that some 6,500 CSR workers remained in the country, about half the usual number.

A Faafoi spokesperson said it was unlikely that any changes would be made to the return of CSR workers or to the work visa rules before the ministers were appointed.

Days after his new role as local MP, Joseph Mooney said the worker shortage was one of the most pressing problems facing the electorate, and he intends to write to the Minister of Immigration for help.

“It is a Labor government now and they need to take responsibility and fix it. This is fundamental and really urgent. “

Allowing 750 CSR workers to return to New Zealand should be an “easy fix,” he said.

Hospitality NZ CEO Julie White is also cross-checking the salary and salary data, as they have changed significantly in the past year, with spikes in business followed by drops, meaning more casual staff was hired at a higher cost.

“I know of hotels where occupancy was in the 90s [during school holidays]. Now they are back to 10 percent. “

In a meeting with government officials this week, the organization pushed for the borders to be opened to at least 10 percent of the previous number of skilled workers.