Labour shortages easing
Labour shortages in the meat processing sector are easing with more migrant workers joining the ranks.
"If you can't do an OE overseas, do an Aotearoa experience in wine," says New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) External Relations Manager Nicola Crennan, who clearly recalls her own time picking nectarines in Hawke's Bay in university holidays.
Nicola says the NZW Careers and Seasonal Attraction Campaign, rolled out in coordination with the Ministry for Primary Industries' Opportunity Grows Here project, shines a light on the seasonal jobs on offer during the summer growing period, or the buzz of harvest, while also exposing opportunities for building a career in wine. It aims to drive 1,500 page views each month to the Wine Industry Careers page on nzwine.com, while sending traffic to PickNZ and WineJobsOnline.
Nicola has been touching base with wine region representatives around the country, and says in some cases the combination of students and seasonal workers for harvest. "We intend to check in regularly, to see whether further attraction campaigns are necessary."
NZW is also developing "heat maps" that show where the need is in terms of numbers and roles, as well as an education map that shows where in New Zealand people can study wine-related courses.
The campaign works to match advertising to specific labour requirements seasonally and regionally, with summer work in vineyards promoted from October to December, followed by harvest and vintage work from January to March and winter pruning work from March to June. The campaign will also target educational opportunities across the summer.
As skill levels rise domestically, along with wine worker numbers, Nicola says having access to international labour is still vitally important to New Zealand wine. "We think it's really important to keep that international connection, and particularly on the winemaking side," she says. "It's an exchange of skills and experience with our international winemaking colleagues - they come to New Zealand and learn how we produce our wine styles, and the same is true for our younger winemakers. That tradition is longstanding and we will do everything we can to support it."
