Latest / The SME Stream / Phil Alexander-Crawford: Workforce Development Council CEO on Manufacturing, Engineering, Logistics sectors needing extra 40,000 workers by 2028

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Phil Alexander-Crawford: Workforce Development Council CEO on Manufacturing, Engineering, Logistics sectors needing extra 40,000 workers by 2028 · The SME Stream

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now there's skills shortage problems facing us. This time, we've
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: got the manufacturing, engineering, and logistics who need an extra
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: forty thousand people apparently by twenty twenty eight. So this
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: week the Workforce Development Council is launching a campaign to
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: get boots on the ground. The Chief executive Fill Alexander
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Crawford is with us on this feel very good morning
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: to you.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: What enter to you, Mike?
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: It's sort of this dichotomy, isn't it the moment? Apparently
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: we're in recession to get a job as hard work,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: the number of ads we see is diminishing, and yet
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: we've got industry after industry saying we need tens of
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: thousands of people to do amazing things. How do we
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: explain this?
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Mike. So we've got an aging workforce and every
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: week we're seeing skilled and experienced workers retiring, and that's
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: only going to grow exponentially. And as a result of that,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: we're needing to fill those vacancies.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: And by my rough calculation of you talking about twenty
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: twenty eight, that's ten thousand a year. It's close to
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  Speaker 1: one thousand people.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Months absolutely, and people a week. Yeah, it's huge numbers
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  Speaker 2: and I mean that's just for our manufacturing and logistics industries.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure the figures are pretty similar in other industries
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  Speaker 2: as well.
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  Speaker 1: It's amazing. So what do we need to do. Do
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  Speaker 1: we need to get them locally, get into schools to
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  Speaker 1: say this is an area for you, or do we
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: need to rely on immigration.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Immigration settings and immigration is a key part of filling
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  Speaker 2: sales gaps. But we've got a unique opportunity in New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand with our growing specific community. And this is the
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  Speaker 2: difference between our Pacific community and the wider economy is
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: that we've got a growing They're both growing in numbers
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  Speaker 2: and they're also more useful. So they are a logical
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  Speaker 2: and a really useful group to work with.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: That's encouraging. So are the immigration settings right in your
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: view at the moment? In other words, of people want
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: of these and want to come here to do this
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: sort of work, they can.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I think, as I say, immigration is important, but with
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  Speaker 2: this action plan, it's designed to complement any immigration settings.
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  Speaker 2: And yeah, the opportunities there not only for our industries
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  Speaker 2: but all of the economy.
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  Speaker 1: It's part of the problem when we say broad things
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  Speaker 1: like manufacturing, engineering, logistics, we might have a rough idea
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  Speaker 1: of what that entails, but I'm assuming within there there
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  Speaker 1: are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of different jobs and
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  Speaker 1: careers and alternatives.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Totally totally, and when you try and split them up
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: into different industries you can do it. But when you
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: have a look, for example, with what the government's intending
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  Speaker 2: to do with the infrastructure spend, you can't do that
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  Speaker 2: without manufacturing, engineering, and logistics. So yeah, there are overlaps
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: between industries and there are they're a huge diversity of
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  Speaker 2: roles and that's exciting, exciting for people that we just
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: need to make sure our commenities understand how exciting our
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: industries are.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Exactly and how much of this is around growth therefore
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  Speaker 1: optimistic versus as you say, just old people retiring and
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: new people required. So, in other words, are we going
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  Speaker 1: places with this or not?
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  Speaker 2: Well, if you believe in history, and obviously we go
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: through economics cycles, we will see growth at some stage.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: And so as I say, with the government intended spend
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: on infrastructure, it's clearly going to be our last degree
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: of growth emanating from that, and so that's going to
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: require skilled workforce and we need to fill those roles.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Nice stuff go well with a campaign. Phil Alexander Crawford,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: who's with the work Force Development Council,