Launch of ECANZ Job Partnership

Good afternoon everyone, and thank you Stephen (Stephen Cunningham, Director, Business Sector Unit) for your introduction.

Many thanks to the Electrical Training Company for hosting today’s event, which I’m delighted to be attending as the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment.

We’re all here for two reasons today. We’re here to launch the industry partnership between Work and Income and the Electrical Contractors Association of New Zealand; and we’re here to celebrate the graduation of six Job Seekers from the partnership’s pilot Straight 2 Work training programme here in Auckland.

A very warm welcome and hearty congratulations to all the graduates. Welcome, also, to our host Peter Rushworth, General Manager of the partnership’s main training provider, the Electrical Training Company; Peter Hughes, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development; Ray Smith, the Ministry’s Deputy Chief Executive Work and Income; Ray Barbara, General Manager of the Electrical Contractors Association of New Zealand, and of course to the employers, without whom there would be no jobs, and no Job Partnerships with Industry!

Every person and organisation here today is committed to economic growth and to social development and employment. We share the same goals.

The Government and the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs share the goal that by 2007, all 15 to 19 year olds will be in work, training, or further education.

The Government and industry share the goal that no business will be constrained by a lack of skilled and work-ready labour. Job Partnerships with Industry is a great example of how we work toward both those goals.

We launched the first industry partnership, with the Hospitality Association, in late 2003, and today’s launch is the 16th since then.

From hospitality to transport, from meat processing to construction and roading, industry partnerships are helping to meet the growing demand for labour that is the result of a healthy economy and record low levels of unemployment.

They’re helping to meet that demand by providing recruitment, training, and career opportunities to job seekers who are the right fit for the industry.

I understand that four of the six new graduates from the ECANZ partnership have already found jobs. With another Straight 2 Work training programme due to start in the Bay of Plenty in March next year, career opportunities will continue to open for people with the right qualifications.

When the Labour Government took office in 1999, our goal was to transform New Zealand’s economic and social development. To effect that transformation, we have worked with local government. We have worked with business and with communities. We have developed practical programmes that put results first. And we can see the results.

In the quarter to the end of September 2005, economic growth strengthened to 1.1%. That exceeded both the 10-year average and the average forecast of 0.8%. There was considerable improvement in labour market conditions, with the labour force participation rate climbing to 68.2%, fuelled by exceptionally strong employment growth of 1.3%. The unemployment rate fell to 3.4% -- once again, the lowest in the OECD, and the lowest in the 19 years that we’ve kept records.

Overall, since March 2000, employment has risen by 16.8%. In real terms, that’s 301,000 more people in work, and a fall in unemployment benefit numbers from 138,541 in September 2000 to under 50,000 today.

Far from resting on our laurels, it’s essential that we keep increasing the impetus with initiatives like Job Partnerships. Because there’s another side to this great news. The pace of employment and economic growth means that the demand for skilled labour has grown faster than the supply. Today, a skills shortage is one of the biggest challenges to continued growth for business and the economy.

Job Partnerships with Industry is one of the ways we meet that risk. Industry partnerships enable us to research and identify future skills shortages, identify the job seekers who are most suitable for training and recruitment, and provide the training that delivers the precise skills the industry needs.

Job Partnerships with Industry provide a national framework for the activity that’s already happening in the regions, where Work and Income already has many successful local partnerships that get local people into local jobs.

We know there’s a need in the electrical industry for a venture like this. There’s a sustained demand for new electricians over the medium term, and the skills demand is changing. We’re seeing an increasing need for IT, computer, and product-specific skills, along with more ‘soft’, people-based skills. This demand for new and different skills will only be met by a solid commitment to recruitment and training.

ECANZ and Work and Income have stepped-right-up to that commitment. Like all our industry partnerships, development of the Straight 2 Work programme put industry in the driver’s seat. Industry knows what skills it needs, and what training will deliver those skills. As the industry partnership develops, ECANZ will continue to provide the research, information, and promotion that will help ensure its success.

ECANZ will also work with Work and Income to advise on training for Job Seekers. Eight weeks of intensive classroom and on-the-job training will deliver a range of skills, from basic soldering to communication, from workplace safety to electrical theory.

A new Electrical Industry Executive Committee, formed by ECANZ and Work and Income, will keep track of issues the partnership needs to solve, and monitor how well we’re solving them.

In 2003 the Labour Government launched Jobs Jolt, a package of initiatives for job seekers with specific needs, like youth and the long-term unemployed. Job Partnerships with Industry is just one Jobs Jolt initiative.

Others include the Mobile Employment Service for New Zealanders living in isolated areas, and Enhanced Case Management for mature workers and the long-term unemployed.

Since its launch, Jobs Jolt has helped thousands of New Zealanders get off benefits and into work. Along with programmes like the New Service for Sickness and Invalids Benefit clients, and the Youth Transitions Service for at-risk young people, Jobs Jolt is a vital part of the Government’s programme to make sure all New Zealanders have the opportunity to take part in our growing labour market.

Three things will continue to underpin our work. They are partnership, action, and information.

Partnership is about working with the people and organisations who know their communities, know their needs, and know their solutions.

Action is about making sure that we design practical, workable problems that get real results for New Zealanders. It means not selecting programmes on the basis of theory or ideology, but on the basis of solid evidence about what works.

Information gives us this evidence. It tells us where we are doing well, where we can make changes, and where we need to focus more effort.

Thank you again for inviting me today. All the best to your new graduates, and all the best for this new partnership.